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A GUIDE TO TAXI LA

BY

Sir JOHN MARSHALL, kt., c.i.e,, m.a.,

Litt.D., F.S.A., Hon.A.R.I.B.A., ETC.,
Director General of Archeology In India

CALCUTTA

SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, INDIA

1918

■Price Rs. 3 or 4s. 63.

The original of tiiis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024121125

CONTENTS

Chapter fAOE

I. — TOPOQEAPHY 1

Location of Taxila 4nd character of country
in ancient times, 1 ; Bliij? mound, 3 ;
Sirkap, 4 ; Babar Khana or Kaohcha
Kot, 5 ; Sirsukh, 6 ; Monuments outside
the cities, 6.

II. — History 8

Persian Empire, 8 ; Alexander the Great, 9 ;
Seleuous Nicato:, 10 ; Maurya Empire, 11.
Bactrian Greeks, 11 ; Scythians and
Parthians, 1 2 ; Apollonius of Tyana,
14 ; Hermans and the Knshans, 16 ;
Dep-truction by the Huns, 17 ; Hsiian
Tsang, 17; Modern explorations, 18;
Chronology of important events connected
with Taxila, 20.

III.— Abt 23

Achsemenian, 23 ; Mauryan, 24 ; Greek,
Scythio and Parthian, 25 ; Gandharan, 30 ;
Influence of Greek Art in India, 32.

IV CONTENTS

Chaptee Page

IV. — The Dhaemaeajxka SitrPA . . . .35
The main structure, 37 ; small circular
stupas around the main structure, 39 ;
Circle of small chapels, 41 ; Consecu-
tive types of masonry, 42 ; Blinor anti-
quities from chapels round Main Stiipa, 43 ;
Stiipa Ji, -14 ; Stupa J^, 45 ; Stupas
N='-", 46; Chapels N" and N", 46;
Stupa N', 47 ; Buildings P and V^ 48 ;
Tank, 48; Stupas K' and P', 48;
Stupa K', 49 ; View of the site and the
surrounding country, 49 ; Building H', 50 ;
Two pits MS 51 ; Chapels G'-s, 51 ;
Inscription of the year 136, 52 ; Chapel
R^, 54 ; Building L, 55 ; Apsidal temple
l\ 55 ; Chapels E and F\ 57.

V. — Sttjfa of Kunala 59

Identification of the stupa, 69 ; Description,
61 ; Monastery, 64.

VI.— SlKKAP 65

City wall, 65 ; Palace, 66 ; Plan of
houses, 70 ; Shrine in Block G, 73 ;
Shrine of the double-headed eagle in block
F, 73 ; Aramaic Inscription, 75 ; Minor
antiquities of Sirkap, 76 ; Jewellery from
House E, 77 ; from chamber C^^, 77 ;
from north side of Central Courtyard, 80 :
Apsidal temple D, 81 ; Stiipa Court A, 83 ;
City Gate, 84.

CONTENTS V

Chaptbb Page

VII. — Jandial 86

Temple, 86 ; Stupaa and monastery in
Mound B, 92 ; Stupa A, 93.

VIII. — SiBSUKH, Lalchak and Badalpur . . . 9i
Position of Sirsukh, 9i ; Siraukh fortifica-
tions, 91 ; Tofkian, 96 ; Lalchak, 98 ;
Buddhist stiipa and Monastery, 98 ; Stupa
I, 100 ; Stupa 11, 101 ; Badalpur, 101.

IX. — MOHEA MORADU, JaULIAN, ETC. . . . 103

Position of Mohra Moradu, 103 ; Stupa
I, 101; Stupa II, 103; Monastery, 106;
JauKaf), 110; Stiipa Courts, 111;
Monastery, 113 ; Bhallar Stupa, 115; Bhir
mound, 117.

Short BiBLtoGRAPHY with abbbevtations . . ,119
Glossary ......... 121

LIST OF PLATES

„ Facing

P^^T^ PAGE

[.—Head of Dionysus, Sirkap . . Frontispiece

II.— Coins ....... 24

III.— Coins 28

IV. — Plan of the Dharmarajika Stupa . . 36

V. — Consecutive types of masonry . . .42
VI. — Dharmarajika Stupa : (a — d) Terracotta and

stucco heads . . . . . .44

VII. — Dharmarajika Stupa : Silver scroll inscription

and transcript . . . . . .5?

VIII. — Dharmarajika Stupa : Gandhara reUefs : (a)
Offering to Buddha after his enlightenment ;
(b) The first sermon . . . .56

IX. — View of the Dharmarajika Stupa from North 58

X. — View of the Kuuala Stupa from N.-W. . 60

XI. — Sirkap : Plan of Palace . . . .68

XII. — Sirkap : View of shrine of the double-headed

eagle ....... 74

XIII. — (a) Sirkap : Aramaic Inscription ; (6) Jaulian :

Stupa casket . . . . .76

XIV. — Sirkap : Plan of Houses E and F and Apsidal

temple D foil. PI.

xiii.
XV. — Sirkap : Figure of Harpocrates . . .78
XVI. — Sirkap : Jewellery from House E and other

objects foil. PI,

XV.

vii

VIU LIST OF PLATES

Facing
Platk page

XVII.— (ff.) Sirkap : Jewellery . . . .80

(6) Ditto.
XVIII.— Jandial Temple : Plan . . . .86
XIX. — View of Jandial Temple . . . .88
XX. — View of Lalchak Monastery . . . 100
XXI. — General view of Mohra Moradu Monastery . 104
XXII.— Mohra Moradu : Relief on Stupa I . .106
XXIII. — Mohra Moradu Monastery : Stupa in Cell . 108
XXIV. — Mohra Moradu Monastery : Gandhara sculp-
ture 110

XXV. — Excavations at Jaulian : Plan . . .112
XXVI. — Jaulian : General view of Stupa Courts foil. PI.

XXV.

XXVII. — Jaulian : Relief in niche . . . .114

XXVIIL— View of Bhallar Stupa . . . .116

XXIX.— Map of Tasila 120

A GUIDE TO TAXILA

CHAPTER I

Topography

The remains of Tasila are situated immediately Location of
to the east and north-east of Sarai-lvala, a junction Taxila and
ou the railway, twenty miles north-west of Rawal- country in
pindi.^ The valley in which they lie is a singularly ancient times.
pleasant one, well-watered by the Haro river and its
tributaries, and protected by a girdle of hills — ou the
north and east by the snow momitains of Hazara and
the Murree ridge, on the south and west by the well-
known Margalla spur and other lower eminences. This
position on the great trade route, which used to connect
Hindustan with Central and AVestern Asia, coupled

1 There are good refreshment and waiting rooms for travcllera
at Sarai-kala railway station, and a small Public Works' bungalow
about a mile distant, permission to occupy which niay sometimes
be obtained from the Executive Engineer, Rawalpindi District.
Less than half a mile from the station is the Archscological Office,
where information can be obtained regarding the excavations.
The building of the local museum, which is contemplated for Taxila,
has had to be postponed for the present, but by the courtesy of the
Director General visitors are allowed, during the time that excava-
tions arc actually in progress, to see the antiquities in the
storerooms at the Arohaiological Bungalow. Excavations are
carried on only in the autumn and spring.

1

2 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

with the strength of its natural defences, the fertility of
its soil, and a constant supply of good water, readily
account for the importance of the city in early times.
Arrian speaks of it as being a great and flourishing
city in the time of Alexander the Great, the greatest,
indeed, of all the cities which lay between the Indus
and the Hydaspes (Jihlam).^ Strabo tells us that
the country round about was thickly populated, and
extremely fertile, as the mountains here begin to
subside into the plains, ^ and Plutarch^ remarks on the
richness of the soil. Hsiian Tsang,* also, writes
in a similar strain of the laud's fertility, of its rich
harvests, of its flowing streams and of its luxuriant
vegetation.

From the map on Plate XXIX it mil be seen that
stretching across this tract of country, from north-
east by east to south-west by west, is a ridge of hills
of which the western termination is called Hathial.
This ridge of hills is a rocky and precipitous spur of
limestone formation, which projects into the valley
from the mountains on the East, and divides the
eastern part of it into two halves. The northern half
is now-a-days siugxilaiiy rich in crops, being watered
by numerous artificial canals taken off from the higher
reaches of the Haro river ; the southern half is less
fertile, being intersected by many deep ravines and
broken by bare stony knolls, on many of which are
ruins of old-time stupas and monasteries. Through

1 Bk. V, Cb. 3. Cf. McCrindlc, The invasion of India by Alexander
Ihe Great, p. 92.

a Bk. XV, Ch. 28. MoCrindle, Ancient India, p. 33.

2 Ch. LIX.

* Waiters, On Yuan Chuiang, Vol, I, p. 240.

TOPOGRAPHY 3

this part of the valley and skirting the western foot
of the Hathial hill runs the Tabra or Tamra nala,
which is manifestly identical with the stream called
Tiberonabo, Tiberoboam, or Tiberio-potamos referred
to by classical authors. ^ Through the northern half
of the valley flows the Lundi nala, another tributary
of the Haro river, which like the Tamra nala now
runs in a deep bed, but in old days, no doubt, was
nearer the surface.

Within this valley and within three and a half Bm? Mound.
miles of each other are the remains of three distinct
cities. The southernmost of these occupies an elevated
plateau, knowai locally as the Bhir mound, between
the recently opened railway from Sarai-kala to Havelian
and the Tamra nala, above the bed of which it rises
to a lieight of between 60 and 70 feet. From north to
south this plateau measures about 1,210 yards and from
east to west, at its oddest point, about 730. On its
western and southern sides its boundaries follow a
fairly regular line, but on the cast and north they
sweep along the edges of the ba)'s and blufis above
the Tamra nala, and in some of these bays, where
the soil has been washed down into the ravine below,
it is no longer possible to trace with accuracy the
original position of the walls. According to local
tradition, the Bhir mound is the most ancient of all
the sites at Taxila, and this tradition is fully con-
firmed by the discoveries which I have made on the
surface of the mound. Gen. Cunningham was of
opinion that this city was still in occupation at the

1 Cf. Sylvain Levi, J. A., Tome XV (8mo Serie), pp. 23U-7,
and MoCriudle, Ancient India, pp. 342-3.

4 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

time of Hsiian Tsang's visit in the 7th century A.D.,
but this opinion appears to have rested on no surer
ground than his own speculations as to the identity
of a ruined stiipa in the region of Babarlihana with
the stupa of the ' Head gift ' described by the Chinese
pilgrim, which, as we shall presently see, has proved
to be erroneous. It is certainly not borne out by
existing remains, which indicate that the Bhir mound
Was occr^pied as a city many centuries prior to the
coming of the Greeks, and that the capital was
transferred by them in the early part of the 2nd
century B.C. to the area now known as Sirkap.

SiKKAP. This second city of Birkap, of which almost the
entire outer wall is still clearly visible, occupies the
western spurs of the hill of Hathial, together with a
well-defined plateau on their northern side. On the
western edge of this plateau the city wall has an
irregular alignment broken by various salients and
recesses, but on the north and east it is quite straight,
and from the south-east corner of the plateau it pro-
ceeds in the same straight line up the steep side of the
northern ridge of Hathial, then drops across a valley,
traverses a second ridge and depression, and so ascends
to the summit of the third and highest ridge on the
south. From this point it turns in a westerly direction
and descends the rocky edge of the ridge to its western
corner ; after which it takes a sharp turn to the north,
and bends west again around a prominent blufi above
the Tanira nala, and so returns north along the western
face of the plateau. Within its circuit the city wall
thus takes in three rocky and precipitous ridges of
the Hathial spur, besides an isolated flat-topped hill,

TOPOGRAPHY 5

which rises in a gradual slope from the bluff above
referred to, and the whole of the level plateau to their
north. The length of this wall is approximately
6,000 yards, its thickness varying from 15 ft. to 21 ft.
6 in. Throughout its whole length both the core and
facing of the wall are composed of rubble stones of no
great size or stability, the construction being in all
respects similar to that of other structures of the Greek
and Saka-Pahlava epochs, and, like them, liable to
fall rapidly to ruin. The outer curtain of the wall
is streng-thened by bastions which, so far as they have
been examined, are rectangular in plan (p. 65).

To judge by its position and configuration, it seems
probable that the isolated flat-topped hill mentioned
above was the real Akropolis of the ancient city
of Sirkap ; but it is hkely that the whole of the area
comprised within the Hathial ridges and between
them and this hill was also specially fortified to serve
as a place of refuge in case of siege. To this end an
inner line of fortifications appears to have been carried
along the north side of the Akropohs, as well as along
the base of the northern ridge of Hathial, the only
access to the interior fort being provided by a gateway
in the depression between the two hills. Gen.
Cunningham imagined that this gateway was directly
opposite to the northern gate of the city and connected
with it by a straight street leading through the middle
of the lower city, but excavations in this part of the
site show that his ideas on this point were incorrect.

Outside the northern wall of the Sirkap city was Babar Khana
a suburb, now known as Babar-khana or the Kachcha °^- Kachcha Kot.
Kot from the fact that it is defended by earthen

6 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

ramparts only. This suburb has a circuit of rather
more than a mile and a quarter, and is enclosed on the
west in a bend of the Tamra nala, above which its
fortifications rise to a height of about 40 feet.
SrasuKH. The third city is that of Sirsukh, situated still

further to the north-east, on the opposite side of the
Lundi nala. This city appears to have been built
by the Kushans, probably during the reign of Kani-
shka. Its plan is roughly a parallelogTam, and the
circuit of the walls is not far short of three miles. The
walls, which are relatively well-preserved along part
of the southern and eastern sides, are of massive con-
struction, some 18 feet or more in thickness and
protected by circular bastions on their outer side. The
facing of the walls is of the ' large diaper ' masomy
which came into vogue in the early Kushan period ; the
bastions are circular, ^ and the intervals between them
measure 90 feet. Inside the city are three modern
villages, Mirpiu', Tofkiafi, and Find Gakhra, placed
on the remains of ancient buildings, which are still
peeping out from the debris among the houses.
MoNtTMENTs 111 addition to these three city sites — the Bhir
OTJTsiDE THE nioiind, Sirlvap and Sirsukh — there are many other
CITIES,. detached monuments, mainly Buddhist stupas and

monasteries, scattered about over the face of the
surrounding country. The Buddhist remains are spe-
cially numerous in the southern half of the valley,
where they occupy most of the barren hillocks alongside
the Tamra nala, conspicuous among them being the
imposing Dharmarajika Stupa, known locally as the

• Not square, or shoivn by Gen. Cunningham.

TOPOGRAPHY 7

" Chir " or " Split " Tope, from the great cleft which
former explorers drove through its centre. In the
northern half of the valley, however, and among the
hills of the Hathial ridge are many other Buddhist
settlements, of which five have already been excavated
and have yielded results of surpassing interest. These
are the Kunala Stupa and monastery which stand
on the northern ridge of Hathial, partly covering the
old city wall of Sirkap ; the stupas and monasteries
at Mohra Moradu and Jaulian in the same range of
hills further to the east ; and those at Badalpur and
Lalchak in the valley to the north. At Jandial,
a little to the north of the Kachclia Ivot, are two con-
spicuous mounds, on one of which is a spacious temple,
dedicated, there is good reason to believe, to fire-
worship ; and a little beyond these, again, are the
remains of two smaller stupas — which may have been
either Jaina or Buddhist, probably the former. Still
further north a conspicuous land-mark is furnished
by the lofty Bhallar Stupa, which occupies a prominent
position on the last spur of the hills bounding the
valley of Taxila on the north. Beside these remains
there are, dotted here and there in the valleys and hills,
many other eminences of ancient days, but the sites
mentioned above are the only ones that have j'et been
excavated, and it is unnecessary here to enter into
particulars regarding the others.

CHAPTER II

HiSTOEY

Notwithstanding the power and wealth of Taxila
in ancient days, the information we possess regarding
its history is singularly meagre, being drawn in the
main from the accounts of Greek or Chinese writers,
or laboriously pieced together with the help of coins
and a few rare inscriptions. The name of the city
was Takkasila or Takhasila (in Sanskrit Takshasila),'^
which in Greek and Roman writers was transcribed
as Taxila. The foundation of the earliest city goes
back to a very remote age. In the Mahabharata-
it is mentioned in connexion with the great snake
sacrifice of King Janamejaya, by whom it had been
conquered. Later on — about the beginning, that is to
say, of the 5th century before our era — it was probably
Persian Empire, included in the Achaemenid Empire of Persia ; for the
inscriptions of Darius at Persepolis aud on his tomb
at Naksh-i-Rustam make mention of a new Indian
satrapy, which was regarded as the richest aud most
populous in the Empire and which, being distinct

1 Meaning probably " The city of cut stone."

'•' The more important references to Taxila in Indian literature

have been collected by Dr. V. S. Sukthankar. A. S. R., 1914-15,

Pt. II, pp. 36-41.

8

HISTORY 9

from Aria, Arachosia and Gandaria, may be assumed
to have comprised Sind and a considerable part of
tlie Panjab east of tlie Indus. ^ An interesting relic
of Persian influence at Taxila is an inscription in
Aramaic characters of the 4th or 5th century B.C.,
the only Aramaic record that has yet been found in
India (p. 75). That Taxila at this time and during
the centuries immediately following enjoyed a great
reputation as a University town, famous for the arts
and sciences of the day, is evident from numerous
passages in the Buddhist Jatakas ; but, apart from
this fact, virtually nothing is known of its history
prior to the invasion of Alexander the Great. That Alexander the
monarch descended on the Panjab and received the "'*^^'''-
submission of Taxila in the spring of 326 B.C., halting
there for some weeks preparatory to his attack on
Porus. From the extant accounts of Alexander's
expedition, based on the writings of his own com-
panions or contemporaries, we learn that the city
was then very wealthy, populous and well governed,
and that its territories extended from the Indus to the
Hydaspes. We learn, too, that polygamy and the
practice of satl were in vogue ; that girls too poor
to be wedded were exposed for sale in the market
place ; and that the bodies of the dead were thro^vir
to the vultures. At the time of Alexander's invasion,
the reigning king Ambhi, known to the Greeks as
Omphis or Taxiles,^ was at war not only with the

> Cf. V. S. Smith, Early History of India, 3rd Ed., p. 38. On tha
other hand, some of the Jatakaa refer to Taxila as a capital city of
Gandhara itself.

^ Manifestly a territorial title.

B

10 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

powerful kingdom of Porus, on the further side of the
Jihlam, but with the neighbouring Hill State of Abhi-
sara, and it was no doubt in the hope of securing
Alexander's help against these foes that he sent an
embassy to wait upon the Macedonian at IJnd (Uda-
bhanda) and led out his troops in person from Taxila,
in order to place them at the service of the conqueror,
afterwards entertaining him with lavish hospitality at
the capital and providing a contingent of five thousand
men for the expedition against Porus. In return for
these and other friendly acts Ambhi was confirmed
in the possession of his own territories and rewarded
by the accession of new ones, while his position was
further strengthened by a reconciliation with Porus.

The Macedonian conquest of North- Western India
was a splendid achievement ; but its effects were
short-lived. Alexander had intended the permanent
annexation of the North- West, and for that purpose he
left colonies and garrisons behind him to consolidate
what he had won, but within six years of his death,
which too place in 323 B.C., Eudemus, the Greek
Governor, withdrew from the Indus valley with all
the forces he could muster to assist Eumenes against
Antiochus, and about the same time, or perhaps even
earlier, Chandragupta drove out the Greek garrisons
east of the Indus, and proceeded to incorporate Taxila
and the other states of the Panjab into the Empire
of Magadha. Then followed, about 305 B.C., the
Seletjctts transient and ineffective invasion of Seleucus Nicator,
icATOR. ^^^ sought to reconquer the lost possessions
of Alexander, but was reduced to making a hasty
and humiliating peace with Chandragupta, under

HISTORY 11

the terms of which all the old Macedonian provinces,

as far as the Hindu Kush, were ceded to the Maurya Empire.

Indian Monarch. ^ To the states of the Panjab the

iron hand of Chandragupta must have proved more

oppressive than that of the Greeks before him, and,

when his son Bindusara succeeded to the throne of

Magadha, Taxila threw off the Maurya yoke and was

not, seemingly, brought to submission until the

Crown prince ASoka himself appeared before its

gates. Asoka afterwards ruled here as Viceroy on

behalf of Bindusara, and during his father's and his

own life-time he appears to have maintained the

Maurya power throughout the North- West no less

efficiently, though perhaps less harshly, than did his

grandfather Chandragupta. To him, no doubt, was

subsequently due much of the strength which Buddhism

gained in this part of India. ^

Soon after Asoka's death, which occurred about Baoteiak
the year 231 B.C., the empire of Magadha began to Greeks.
break up, and Taxila, along with other outlying pro-
vinces, was able once again to assert her independence,
only to fall an easy prey to fresh Greek invaders from
Bactria, whom the decline of the Maurya power invited
eastward. These invaders were the descendants of

1 The hasty conclusion of this peace, by which Seleucua
Nicator received only 500 elephants in exchange for so vast a tract
of country was probably due no less to the danger with which he
was threatened by Antigonus in the West, than to the unexpectedly
strong opposition of Chandragupta, though Seleucus must hayo
recognised the impracticabihty of ever efiectively holding the dis-
puted provinces.

2 There is a tradition recorded by Hsiian Tsang to the efioct that
Khotan was first colonized by exiles from Taxila, baiiished by A^oka
after the bhnding of his son, Kunala. See pp. 60-01 infra, and
Stein. Ancient Khotan, I, pp. 156 sqq.

12 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

the Greek colonies which Alexander the Great had
planted in Bactria and which, unlike the colonies of
the Panjab, had taken firm root and flourished. Thus,
although the Macedonian's conquest of the Panjab
*■ made no permanent impression upon India, his conquest
of the neighbouring countries was indirectly responsi-
ble for the subsequent establishment of Greek culture
and Greek art in the north-west. The first of the
Bactrian invaders to reach Taxila was Demetrius,
son-in-law of Antiochus the Great ( c. 190 B.C.), who
carried his arms successfully through the Kabul valley,
the Panjab and Sind. Twenty years later came
Eucratides, who wrested first Bactria and then part
of his Indian possessions, including Taxila, from
Demetrius. From these two conquerors there sprang
two rival lines of princes, who continued in India the
feud which had been started in Bactria,^ encroaching
from time to time upon each other's territories. Among
the Greek kings who ruled over Taxila, ApoUodotua
and Menander apparently belonged to the house of
Demetrius, Antialcidas to that of Eucratides.^
Of the many other Greek rulers in the Panjab and
North- West oiu? knowledge at present is too meagre to
determine which of them ruled at Taxila, and what
connexion, if any, they had with the one or the other
of these two houses.
Scythians AND The rule of the Greeks at Taxila had endured for
Parthians. ij^^jg j-^^Qj,g ^Yian a century, when it was swept away

1 Cf. Eapson, Ancient India, p. 128.

- Op. C'it., p. 133. Other authorities take ApoUodotua to be a
son of Eucratides. Cumiinsham Nvrniwialic Chron., 1869, pp.
241-3.

HISTORY 13

by invading hosts of barbarians from the west. These
barbarians were the Scythians or Sakas, as they were
kno-WTi in India, who had long been settled in the
Parthian Province of Seistan, and had there mingled
and intermarried freely with the Parthian elements in
the population. From Seistan they overran Arachosia
and the neighbouring countries, and thence passed
across the Indus to the conquest of the Panjab. In
Ai-achosia one section of these invaders remained
and established its supremacy under the leadership of a
Parthian named Vonones ; while another section, under
the Saka chief Maues, pressed eastward and conquered
the kingdom of Taxila. Maues appears to have risen
to power in Arachosia about 95 B.C., and to have
reached Taxila some ten or fifteen years later. He was
succeeded in or about 58 B.C. by Azes I, who had been
intimately associated with the family of Vonones in the
Government of Arachosia, and was, in fact, perhaps as
much a Parthian as a Saka. Though little is known
of Azes I, there can be no doubt that his reign was a
long and prosperous one, and it is probable that he
was responsible for extending and consolidating the
Saka power throughout North- West India as far as
the banks of the Jumna. In the administration of his
dominions he adopted the old Persian system of govern-
ment by Satraps, which had long been established in
the Panjab, and this same system was continued by
his successors, Azilises and Azes II, whose local satraps
at Taxila and Mathura^ were also of the Saka race
and connected with one another by close family ties.

1 Liaka-Kusulaka, I'atika, Rajuvula, and Soriiica.

14 A GUIDE TO T AXIL A

On the death of Azes II, the kingdoms of Taxila
and Arachosia were united under one rule by the
Parthian Gondopharnes, the fame of whose power
spread to the Western world, and who figm-ed in early-
Christian WTritings as the prince to whose court
St. Thomas the Apostle was sent. This union of the
two kingdoms took place about the third decade of
our era and may be presumed to have been a peaceful
one. After its achievement Gondopharnes proceeded
to annex the Kabul valley, overthrowing the Greek
principality in that region and driving out the last
prince Hermaeus. But there could have been little
cohesion in this empire of Gondopharnes ; for no
sooner had his personal authority been removed than
the satraps of the various Provinces asserted their
own sovereig-nty. Abdagases, the nephew of Gondo-
pharnes, took the Western Panjab ; Orthagnes, and
after him Pakores, Arachosia and Sind ; and other
parts of his dominions fell to other princelings, among
whom were Sasan, Sapedanes, and Satavastra, whose
coins I have discovered for the first time at Taxila.
Apollonius It was during the Indo-Parthian supremacy, pro-
OF Tyana. bably in the year 44 A.D., that Apollonius of Tyana
is reputed to have visited Taxila. According to
his biogTapher Philostratus, the king then reigning
at Taxila was named Phraotes, who was independent
of Vardanes, the Parthian king of Babylon, and him-
self powerful enough to exercise suzerain power over
the satrapy of Gandhara.^ Approaching Taxila from

' It is worthy of remark that Phraotca found it necessary to
pay subsidies to the wilder tribes on liis frontier in order to keep
them quiet.

HISTORY 16

the north-west, Apollonius halted at a temple in front
of the wall, which he describes in some detail, and
which, as we shall presently see, may possibly be
identical with the temple at Janchal. The city itself,
viz., the city of Sirkap, was, he says, about the same
size as Nineveh and fortified like the cities of Greece
on a symmetrical plau.^ The streets were narrow
and irregular like the streets of Athens, and the houses
had the appearance of being one-storied, but had in
reality basement rooms underground. Inside the city
was a temple of the Sun and a royal palace, the latter
of which was distingniished by its simplicity and lack
of ostentation, very different from the splendour which
Philostratus had seen at the court of Babylon.

The credibility of the story of Apollonius as re-
lated by Philostratus has been reasonably questioned
by modern critics, and there is no doubt that there
is much fiction in it mingled with the truth. On the
other hand, there is little in the account of Taxila
which is not borne out by what we know of the history
of those times, while some details find remarkably
strong corroboration in my own discoveries. It is
a reasonable inference, therefore, that Apollonius did
in fact jom'ney as far as Taxila, and that Philostratus
had access to the notes of his companion Damis. These
notes were probably correct so far as his own personal
observations went, but colorued by hearsay stories
related to him ; and it is likely that other " travellers'

' The words TeTSf^ia^ai Se ^Ufj-fj^sTpiu; are translatod
by Conybeare " fairly well fortified," but this can hardly be the
meaning hero

16 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

tales " were culled by ApoUonius from earlier Greek
writers, in order to enliven his narrative.
Hebm^us and To revert, however, to the history of Taxila. The
THE KtsHANs. Opportunity of recovering his lost kingdom which the
dismemberment of the Indo-Parthian Empire ofiered
to Hermajus was not lost upon him. After being
driven from Kabul, he appears to have formed an
alliance with Kujiila Kadphises, the powerful chief
of the Kushans, and with his help to have won back
Kabul, and afterwards to have combined with him
in the conquest of Gandhara and Taxila.^ These
Kushans were a tribe of the people called by the
Chinese historians Yiieh-chih,^ who emanated origin-
ally from the extreme north-west of China. From
China they were driven westward about 170 B.C.,
and proceeded to occupy, first, Bactria and the
region of the Oxus valley ; then the Kabul valley ;
and, finally, the plains of Northern India. The chrono-
logy of this period is very uncertain, but it seems
probable that it was about 50 or 60 A.D. that Kujula
Kadphises and Hermseus ^vTested the Kabul valley
and Taxila from the Parthians, and a few years later
that Kujiila was succeeded by Wima Kadphises, who
consolidated and enlarged the empire which his pre-
decessor had won. To about this period belong the
coins of the nameless ruler commonly known as Soter
Megas, who may have been a successor of Wima
Kadphises.^ Then followed, in the second century

• See p. 9 ante, footnote 1.

2 The Yueh-chih arc commonly known as the Kushans, because
it was to the particular Kushaii tribe that their kings belonged.

' There seems to me to have been a break between the reigns
of Kadjjhises II and Kanishka.

HISTORY 11

of our era, the great and powerful Kanishka, the most
famous of all the Kushans, and after him Huvishka
and Vasudeva. Kanishka made his winter capital at
Purushapura, the modern Peshawar, and extended his
conquests over a wide area, from Central Asia to the
borders of Bengal, and it is probable that this empire
was maintained intact by his immediate successors.
The death of Vasudeva probably occurred in the first
half of the third century A.D., and from this time
forward the Kushan power gradually declined,^ though
it survived in the Panjab until the invasion of the
White Huns or Ephthalites in the 5th century of
our era.

In the year 400 A.D. the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien
visited the Buddhist monvimeuts at Taxila, but un-
fortimately has left us no particulars about them.
From his accounts of other places in that part of India
however, it is evident that at the time of his pilgrimage
the great Buddhist sanctuaries of the North-West
were still relatively vigorous and flourishing ; and it
is no less evident from the condition in which they have
been unearthed, that the monuments of Taxila were
wantonly and ruthlessly devastated in the course of
the same century. This work of destruction is almost JJe.stiujotion by
certainly to be attributed to the hordes of barbarian '^'"^ \>n[T.d. unc
White Huns, who after the year 455 A.D. swept down
into India in ever increasing numbers, carrying sword
and fire wherever they went, and not only possessed
themselves of the kingdom of the Kushans, but

1 The decline of the Kushan power may have been haatencd
by an unrecorded Sasanian invasion. Many Sasanian coins have
been unearthed at Taxila.

18 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

eventually overthrew the great Empire of the
Guptas.
HusAN TsANG. From this calamity Taxila never again recovered,
and when Hsiian Tsang visited it in the seventh
century, he found it had become a dependency of
Kashmir, that the local chiefs were at feud with one
another, and that most of the monasteries were ruined
and desolate.^
Modern Of the exploration of the remains at Taxila up to

EXPLORATIONS, j-j^g ^jjj^g wheu the writer started his operations, there
is little to chronicle. Like most ancient sites in this
part of India, it was long subjected to the depredations
of amateur archseologists or treasure-seekers. Among
the former were Major Pearse, Major Cracroft, Deputy
Commissioner of Rawalpindi, and Mr. Delmerick.
Of the latter one of the worst offenders was a hhisti
of the village of Shah Dheri named Nur, who in the
fifties and sixties of last century seems to have made
his Hving by opening small stiipas in the neighbourhood
and disposing of their contents to Government officials
or antiquity dealers. He it was who discovered an
inscribed gold plate in one of the stiipas near Jandial
and despoiled many other structures of their relics.
It was not, however, until 1863, when Gen. Cimningham
turned his attention to the site, that its identity with
the ancient Taxila was established. This identity,
which Gen. Cunningham had first surmised on the
strength of the topographical indications afforded by
ancient writers, was confirmed by the discovery on
the part of some villagers of a stone vase in one of

' As regards the monuments described by Hsiian Tsang see
p. 69 below.

HISTORY 19

the stupas^ near Shahpur, the inscription on which
records that the stupa in question had been erected
at Taxila. Gen. Cunningham's own explorations,
which were carried out in the cold seasons of 1863-64
and 1872-73, were limited to mere superficial trenches
and pits near the north-east corner of the city of Sirkap,
and in some of the isolated mounds on Hathial, at
Jandial, Mohra Maliaran, and Seri-ki-Pind. The only
discoveries of any consequence made by him were
two temples of inconsiderable size near the village
of Mohra Maliarafi,^ one of which was remarkable
for the Ionic columns with which it was adorned.
The results of these operations are embodied in Gen.
Cunningham's reports for the years 1863-64 and 1872-
73. Since the latter date further spoliation among
these historic remains has been effected by neigh-
bouring villagers, and numerous antiquities from here
have found their way into the hands of the dealers
of Rawalpindi. In no case has there been any system
or purpose other than that of treasure-seeking in these
haphazard escavatious, nor has any record of them
been preserved.

Of the excavations which the writer has conducted
at Taxila during the last four winter seasons, a full
and illustrated record is published in his Annual
Reports.^

' No. 13 of Gen. Cunningham's plan in C. 8. R., Vol. II, PI.
LXIII.

" A. S. R., Vol. V, pp. 68-73 and plates XVII-XIX.

3 Annual Reports of the Director General of Archceology, 1912-13,
Pt. I., pp. 8-17, Pt, II., pp. 1-52 ; 1913-14, Pt. I., pp. 11-17 ; 1914-15,
Pt. I., pp. 13-16, Pt. II., pp. 1-41 ; 1915-16, Pt. I., pp. 3, 4, 10-12,
Pt. II, pp. 1-38.

20 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

Chronology of important eosnts connected with Taxila.

B.C. 558-.'529 . Cyrus or Kurush, founder of the Aohje-
menid Empire of Persia.

563-2 I . Birth of Siddhartha or Gautama Sakyamuni,

the Buddha.

527 . . , Death of Mahavira Vardhamana Jnatapu-

or 4.67 tra, founder of the Jaina religion.

521-485 . c Darius Hystaspea (Darayavush Vishtaspa)
king of Persia.

laxila and the north-west of India annexed
to the Persian Empire.

tikylax of Karj^anda explores the lower
course of the Indus (between 515 and 509).

485-465 . . Xerxes (Khshayarsha), king of Persia.

483 . . . Death {Jjlnlidparinirvdna) of the Buddha.

326 . . . Alexander the Great receives submission

of Ambhi, king of TaxOa, and after-
wards defeats Porus at the Hydaspcs
( Fftasfn-Jihlam).

323 . . . Death of Alexander at Babylon.

321 . . . Second partition of Macedonian Empire

at Triparadeisos. Seleucus Nioator ob-
tains Babylon, Syria, and Persia ;
Ambhi is confirmed in possession of the
Hydaspes country ; Porus in that of the
lower Indus.

317 . . . Budemus withdraws from the Indus valley,

and Chandragupta makes himself master
of the Panjab, and founds the Maurya
dynasty.

312 . . . (Oct. 1st) Establishment of the Seleuoidan

era.

305-303 . . Seleucus invades India and is repulsed by

Chandragupta.

300 Cir. . . Megasthenes, ambassador of Seleucus, at
the court of Chandragupta.

HISTORY

21

298

273 .
250 Cir.

Accession of Bindusara Maurya. During
his reign his son Asoka is Viceroy at
Taxila. Deimachns, ambassador of Seleu-
cus, at Patahpiitra.

Accession of the Emperor Aioka.

Bactria and Partliia assert their independ-

232 . . . Death of Asoka ; break-up of Maurya Empire

begins.

190 Cir. . . Demetrius of Bactria conquers tlie Panjab.

170-175 . . Eucratides wrests power from Demetrius,

first in Bactria, then in the Panjab.
Foundation of the citj' of Sirkap.

140 Cir. . . Antialcidas, kmg of Taxila. HeHodorus sent

as ambassador to king of Vidisa in Central
India.

139 Cir. . . Mitliridates of Parthia overthrows kingdom

of Bactria.

85-80 . . Maues, the Scythian king, conquers Taxila.

58 . . . Begmning of Vila'ama era. About this

date Azes I succeeds Maues.

17 . . . Liaka Kusulaka Satrap.

15 Cir. . . Accession of Azilises.

B.C. 10-A.D. 10. Patika and Rajuvula Satraps.

B.C. 5 Cir. . Accession of Azcs II.

A.D. 20-30 . Kuigdoms of Arachosia and Taxila united

under one rule by Parthian Gondo-
pharnes.

35 Cir. . . Conquest of Kabul valley from Hermfeus

by Gondopharnes.

40 Cir. . . Visit of St. Thomas the Apostle to the court

of Gondopharnes.

44 . . . Visit of Apollonius of Tyana. Phraotes

ruling at Taxila.

62

50-60

60 Cir.

75-80 Cir.

100
125

146
170

187

225

226 .
319 .

400 .
430 .

450-500

510 Cir.

520 .
629-645

A GUIDE TO TAXILA

Death of Gondopharnes and division of
empire among various Parthian princes,
including Abdagases, Orthagnes, Pakores,
Sasan, Sapedanes, etc.

HermEBUs and Kujula Kadphises reconquer
Kabul valley and afterwards annex
Gandhara and Taxila.

Accession of Wima Kadphises, the Kushan
king.

' Soter Megas.'

Accession of Kanishka Kushan. Founda-
tion of the city of Sirsukh.

Arrian, author of the Indika, flourished,

Accession of Huvishka.

Accession of Vasudeva.

Death of Vasudeva and break-up of Kushan
power.

Ardashir-i-Babegan founded the Sasanian
dynasty of Persia.

Chandragupta I, founder of the Imperial
Gupta dynasty, crowned, Gupta era
begins.

Fa Hien, the Chinese pilgrim, visits Taxila.

Kidara Shahi establishes the kingdom of
the Little Kushans.

Invasions of Ephthalites or White Huns
and expulsion of Little Kushans from
Gandhara.

Death of Toramana and accession of
Mihiragula.

Sung Yiin, the Chinese pilgrim; in Gandhara.
Hsiian Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, visits
India.

CHAPTEE 111

Art!

We have seen in the foregoing chapter that between
the fifth century B.C. and the fifth century A.D. Taxila
was under the dominion, successively, of seven different
nations, namely : the Persians, the Macedonians, the
Mauryas, the Bactrian Greeks, the Scythians (Sakas),
the Parthians and the Kushans ; and it may be taken
for granted that, with the exception of the Macedonians
whose conquest was merely transitory, each of these
nations in turn left some impress upon the arts and
culture of the country. Of artistic monuments Aoh^menian.
however, belonging to the Persian epoch none have
yet been found either at Taxila or elsewhere in India,
and, indeed, the only relic of any kind in which direct
Achsemenian influence is discernible, is the Aramaic
inscription mentioned on p. 75. True, there are
strong Persian elements observable in the sculptures
of a later epoch, particularly in those of the Gandhara
school, and it has generally been assumed that these
elements found their way into Indian art at the time

' For a fuller ax;count of tho evolution of early Indian art, see
the writer's chapters in tho forthcoming Cambridge Hislory of
India, some paragraphs from which are hero repeated.

23

24 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

when tlie Persian Empire extended over tlie north-
west, the Greek elements following later. There is
no real evidence, however, to support this assumption.
A more reasonable view is that the fusion of Iranian
with Hellenistic ideas took place in Bactria and the
neighbouring countries after their colonisation by
Alexander the Great, and that the hybrid art there
evolved was introduced into India either as a result
of the peaceful intercourse between the Maurya Empire
and Western Asia, or as a result of the subsequent
invasions of the Bacfcrian Greeks, Scythians, Parthians,
and Kushans, all of whom must have been imbued
to a greater or less degree with Grseco-Persian culture.
Mafrya. "WTiatever the truth may be regarding an earlier
stratum of Achssmenian art in the North-West, the
history of Indian art at present opens for us in the
Maurya age, when indigenous art had not yet emerged
from the primitive stage, and when the Emperor A^oka
was employing artists from Bactria or its neighbour-
hood for the erection of his famous memorials. The
rudimentary character of Indian art at this period is
well exemplified by the current indigenous coins
(PI. II) known commonly as ' punch-marked,' which
are singularly crude and ugly, neither their form,
which is unsymmetrical, nor the symbols which are
stamped almost indiscriminately upon their surface,
having any pretensions to artistic merit. On the other
hand, the coins of Sophytes (Saubhuti), who was
reigning in the Salt Range at the close of the ith
century B.C., are purely Greek in style (PI. II), having
seemingly been copied from an issue of Seleucus
Nicator, with whom Sophytes probably came into

Platk 11.

<'J^^

r

s

J

i ct 2. PUNCH-MAJlKEIi.

o A: !i. LOCAL TAXI LAX.

,' '^:'

5. SOPHYTKS.

^. DJiiD'lTfs. 7. ErTFlYDIiMl'S.

S. DEMETUirs.

12. AFOLLoDOTUS.

ART 25

contact when the former invaded the Panjab.
This striking contrast between indigenous and foreign
workmanship is no less apparent in the plastic art
of the period. Thus, side by side with the masterly
figures, both in the round and in relief, with which
some of the columns of x4soka are crowned and which
are manifestly the products of the highly mature Perso-
Greek School, there are images, such as the one from
Parkham in the Mathura Museum, which are still in
the unifacial and frontal stage and exhibit all the
other defects of rudimentary technique. Indeed, so
far as is known at present, it was only in the jewellers'
and lapidaries' arts that the Maurya craftsman attained
any real proficiency, and in this domain his aptitude
lay, not in the plastic treatment of form, but in the
highly technical skill with which he cut and polished
refractory stones or applied delicate filigree or granular
designs to metal objects. The refined quality of his
gold and silver work is well illustrated in the two pieces
reproduced in PI. XVI, 13 and 14, which were dis-
covered in the Bhir mound in company with a gold coin
of Diodotus, a large number of local punch-marked coins
and a quantity of other jewellery and precious stones.
Apart from this jewellery, almost every object hitherto
recovered from the Maurya stratum at Taxila is of
rough, primitive workmanship, and the same is true of
the majority of contemporary objects from other sites.

Of the Greek kings of the Panjab, our knowledge Geeek, Scythio
is, as we saw in the last chapter, very limited, and is ^^^ Parthian.
in fact mainly derived from their coins, which are fomrd
in large numbers throughoiit the Panjab and North-
West Frontier. From these coins we have recovered

26 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

the name3 of some 40 kings, but of the majority
little more is known than their actual names. The only
record, on stone, of these Greek kings is one which
was found a thousand miles away from Taxila in the
ancient city of Vidisa in Central India. This in-
scription is carved on a pillar, and states that the pillar
was set up by a Greek named Heliodorus, the son of
Dion, who came as ambassador to Vidisa from Antial-
cidas, the Greek king of Taxila. Incidentally, this
inscription shows us how the Greeks were then
embracing the rehgions of the coimtry of their adoption.
With their very elastic pantheon they readily identified
Indian gods with their own deities ; and, just as in
Italy they identified Minerva v>'ith Athena or Bacchus
with Dionysus, so in India they identified the Sun-god
Surya with Apollo or Kama, the god of Love, with
their own Eros ; and they had no hesitation, therefore,
in paying their devotions to Siva or to Parvatl, to
Vishnu or to LakshmT.

The North- West of India, which the Greeks occupied,
has been swept by invasion after invasion of hosts
from Central Asia, and there are relatively few monu-
ments of ancient days that have escaped destruction.
Those, however, which have survived, as well as the
monuments and antiquities that have recently been
recovered from the soil at Taxila and other places,
all consistently bear witness to the strong hold which
Hellenistic art took upon this part of India. This
hold was so strong, that long after the Greek kingdoms
of the Panjab had passed away, even after the Scythians
and Parthians, who overthrew the Greeks, had them-
selves been stipplanted by the Kushans, Greek art

AET 27

still remained paramount in the North-West, and
continued to exercise considerable influence until
the fifth century of our era, although it was growing-
more and more decadent j-ear by year.

This persistence and this slow decadence of Greek
ideas is best illustrated by the coins, the stylistic history
of which is singularly lucid and coherent (Pis'. II and
III). In the earliest examples every feature is
Hellenistic. The standard weight of the coins is the
standard established by Athens ; the legends are in
Greek ; the types are taken from Greek mythology, and
are moreover designed with a grace and beauty remini-
scent of the schools of Praxiteles and Lysippus ; and
their portraiture is characterised by a refined realism
which, while it is unmistakably Greek, demonstrates
a remarkable originality on the part of the engravers
in India. Later on, when the Greek power in India
became consolidated, the old Attic standard gave
place to one, possibly based on Persian coinage, which
was more suited to the needs of local commerce ;
bilingual legends (on the one side in Greek, on the
other in Kharoshthi) were substituted for the Greek ;
and little by little the other Greek qualities gradually
faded, Indian elements being introduced among the
types and the portraits losing their freshness and
animation. And so the process of degeneration con-
tinued, relatively slowly among the Eurasian Greeks,
more rapidly when the Greeks were supplanted by the
Scythians and Parthians. The testimony of these coins
is especially valuable in this respect : it proves that the
engravers who produced them were no mere slavish
copyists of western models, but were giving free and

c2

28 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

spontaneous expression to their own ideas ; and it
proves further that, though Greeli art underwent an
inevitable transformation on Indian soil, and as a
result of pohtical changes, nevertheless its influence
was long and well sustained.

The same is the case also with the engraved gems,
which are fomidin large numbers throughout the Panjab
and North- West Frontier and which exhibit precisely
the same stylistic development as the coins. Nor does
this numismatic and glyptic evidence stand alone. It
is endorsed also by the other antiquities of this age
which have come down to us, thouo'h in their case with
this notable difference^a difference for which political
considerations readily account — that, whereas the coins
of the Indo-Parthians evince a close dependence on
Parthian prototypes, warranting the presumption that
the kings who issued them were of Parthian stock, the
contemporary architecture and other antiquities show
relatively little evidence of the semi-barbarous
influence from that region. Of the buildings of the
Eurasian Greeks themselves no remains have yet been
brought to light save the plain and unembellished
dwelhng houses of Taxila, but the monuments erected
on this site during the Scytho-Parthian supremacy
leave no room for doubt that architecture of the
classical style had long been fashionable in this quarter
of India ; for, though by that time the decorative
features were beginning to be Indianised, the Hellenistic
elements in them were still in complete preponderance
over the Oriental. Thus, the ornamentation of the
stupas of this period was primarily based on the" Corin-
thian " order, modified by the addition of Indian motifs,

Platk III.

7//. ZofLCS.

/.;. MACKS.

77. IIA.IUVVLA.

Hi. AZKS I.

'''j,

%

l,S. (tONIXiPllAllNKS.
20. KADPIIISKS J I.

■^m,

fjhS

1^^^^-^,

7,7. IIKIIMAiaJS.

■.^rtfTiCr-.

'■^f:w&y

±t. KASISIIKA.

'2.3. KJ.ST/'ATJ.

ART 29

while the only temples that have yet been unearthed
are characterised by the presence of Ionic columns
and classical mouldings. In the example of the former
class of structures illustrated in PI. XII the Indian ele-
ments in the design are more than usually conspicuous,
but even in this stupa, which belongs to the reign of
Azes and probably to the Jaina faith, they are res-
tricted to the small brackets over the Corinthian
capitals and to the subsidiary toranas^ and arched
niches which relieve the interspaces between the
pilasters.

As with the architectural, so with the plastic and
other arts ; they, one and all, derived their inspiration
from the Hellenistic School and in the very slowness
of their decline, bear testimony to the remarkable
persistency of its teachings. Of earlier and purer
workmanship a good illustration is afforded by the
ivory pendant adorned with two bearded heads from
Sirkap (PI. XVI, 10) and by the vine-wreathed head of
Dionysus in silver repousse from the same spot (PL I).
The god is garlanded with the usual vine, has the
Satyr's ears, and carries in his hands a typical double-
handled cantharus. The style of this head is bold
and broad, and characteristic of the best period of
Hellenistic art. To a little later date — probably the
first century B.C. — belongs the beautiful little statuette
of bronze figured in PI. XV. It is the figure of
Harpocrates, the Egyptian child god of silence, and

' The finest and indeed the only complete examples of ancient
Indian toranas (gateways) are those at Saiichi in Bhopal State.
The Indian iorana is the prototype of the Chinese " pailu " and
the Japanese *' torii." No doubt it was introdueed into those
countries with the spread of Buddhism to the East.

30 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

it is ill token of silence that ho holds his finger to his
lips. There is a charming simplicity and naivete about
the treatment of this child, which is unmistakably
Greek. Later on (that is to say, about the beginning
of the Christian era) we find Indian ideas beginning
to coalesce with the Greelv and art becoming somewhat
more hybrid. Witness, for example, the well known
gold casket from Bimarau^ in Afghanistan, in which
the figures of the Buddha and his devotees (the chief
and central figaires) are in inspiration clearly Hellenic,
but the arches under which they stand are no less
clearly Indian ; while beneath the base of the casket
is the sacred Indian lotus, frdl blown.

Under the supremacy of the Kushans a vast number
of Buddhist monasteries and stupas sprang into exist-
ence, and a new lease of life was given to the old Greek
School. No doubt, during their long sojom-n in Bactria
and the Oxus Valley the Kushans had absorbed much
of the Oriental Greek spirit, and it was probably due
to this that their arrival in India was the signal for a
fresh outbm'st of artistic activitj^ The chief centre
of this activity was the valley of Peshawar, where
Kanishka established his winter capital. This tract of
Gandhaean. country was then called Gandhara, and it is for this
reason that the school of art which flourished here
during the Kushan epoch is known as the Gandhara
School. Large collections of the sculptirres which this
school produced have been made on the frontier, and

^ Cf. Ariana Aittiquu, p. 53, PI. Ill; Fouchcr, L'Art greco-
bmidJlnque du Gandhdru, jj. 51, lig. 7 ; Birdwood, Induslrial Arts of
India, PL I ; Vincent Smith, IJiilonj of fine Art in India and Ceylon,
I). 35U and PI. LXXIV, lig. B.

ART 31

may be seen in the museums at Peshawar, Lahore
and Calcutta ; numerous specimens, too, have been
found at Taxila itself, of which some illustrations are
given on PI. VIlI.i Unhappily, among the many
thousands of sculptures of this school which we possess,
there is not one which bears a date in any known era,
nor do considerations of style enable us to determine
their chronological sequence with any approach to
accuracy. Nevertheless, it may be taken as a general
maxim that the earlier they are, the more nearly they
approximate in style to Hellenistic work, and it may
also be safely asserted that a number of them, dis-
tinguished by their less stereotyped or less rococo
character, are anterior to the reigu of Kanishka.

The sculptrues of this school were executed in
stone," stucco, and terracotta and appear to have
been invariably embellished with gold leaf or paint.
Stone being the more durable, it happens that most
of the specimens preserved at Peshawar, Lahore, and
in other museums are in that material ;• but at Taxila
we have been fortunate in recovering, besides stone
images, a vast number of well-preserved stucco ones
and a few also in terracotta.

In many features, both of style and execution,
these scidptures recall to mind Eoman work of the
same period, and this resemblance has led some writers
to suppose that Eoman art and Eoman culture extended
their influence as far as Northern India. This ex-

1 Cj. also pp. 55, 56 below.

" The Btonc used for niOKt of these sculptures is a poculiiir variety
of grey schist stone, which is believed to come from the neighbour-
hood of the Swat Valley, though its provenance has never been
definitely settled.

3^ A GUIDE TO TAXILA

planation, however, is based on a fundameatal error
as to the genesis of Roman Imperial art and the rela-
tion in which it stood to the Hellenistic art of Western
Asia. Ever since the time of the Seleucids it was
Western Asia that had been the real centre of artistic
effort in the ancient world. Westerji Asia was the
crucible in which the arts of Greece and of Ionia, of
Persia and of Mesopotamia, were fused together ; and it
was from Western Asia that the streams of art flowed
westward over the Roman Empire and eastward over
Parthia, Turkestan and India. It is a mistake to
suppose that Roman ideas affected to any great extent
the plastic arts of Greece or Asia. The converse was
the case, and the art of Rome, therefore, stood in
much the same relation as the art of Gandhara did to
Hellenistic art. In other words, Gandhara art was
the sister (or more correctly, perhaps the cousin), not
^ the daughter, of Roman art, both schools tracing

their parentage to the same common stock ; and it
is not surprising, therefore, to find that the arts of Rome
and of Gandhara are distinguished by the same family
likenesses.
Influence of The question of the role played by classical art
Greek art in j^ l^jja has been a much disputed one in the past,
India. i • • ■ • . i i

some authorities maintaining that it was almost a

negligible factor, others that it underlay the whole
fabric of Indian art. The truth, as so often happens,
lies between the two extremes. In Hindustan and
in Central India it played an important part in pro-
moting the development of the Early National School,
both by clearing its path of technical difficulties and
strengthening its growth with new and invigorating

ARt 33

ideas. In the nortli-west region and immediately
beyond its frontiers, on the other hand, it long main-
tained a complete supremacy, obscuring the indi-
genous traditions and itself producing works of no
mean merit, which add appreciably to our understanding
of the Hellenistic genius. Here, too, as Indian influence
waxed stronger, it eventually culminated in the School
of Gandhara, which left an indelible mark on Buddhist
art throughout the Orient. Nevertheless, in spite
of its wide diffusion, Hellenistic art never took the
real hold upon India that it took, for example, upon
Italy or Western Asia, for the reason that the tempera-
ments of the two peoples were radically dissimilar.
To the Greek, man, man's beauty, man's intellect
were everything, and it was the apotheosis of this
beauty and this intellect which still remained the key-
note of Hellenistic art even in the Orient. But these
ideals awakened no response in the Indian mind.
The vision of the Indian was bounded by the immortal
rather than the mortal, by the infinite rather than the
finite. Where Greek thought was ethical, his was
spiritual ; where Greek was rational, his was emotional.
And to these higher aspirations, these more spiritual
instincts, he sought, at a later date, to give articulate
expression by translating them into terms of form and
colour. But that was not until the more spacious
times of the Guptas, when a closer contact had been
established between thought and art, and new impulses
imparted to each. Prior to the mediaeval epoch the
Indian had not conceived the bold and, as some think,
chimerical idea of thus incarnating spirit in matter.
Art to him was a thing apart — a sensuous, concrete

34 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

expression of the beautiful, which appealed intimately
to his subconscious festhetic sense, but in which neither
intellectuahty nor mysticism had any share. For
the rest, he found in the formative arts a valuable
medium in which to narrate, in simple and universal
language, the legends and history of his faith ; and
this vras mainly why, for the sake of its lucidity and
dramatic power, he welcomed and absorbed the lessons
of Hellenistic art, not because he sympathised with
its ideals or saw in it the means of giving utterance
to his own.

CHAPTER IV

The Dhakmae7v,jika Stupa^

III the description wliich follows of the remains of
Taxila- I shall start with the Dharmarajika Stupa,

' Primarily stupas were, no doubt, funeral mounds or tumuli ;
but among tlio Buddliists tlioy were erected either to erLshrine
some relic of the Buddha or of a Buddhist samt or else to commemo-
rate some specially sacred spot. From the outward form of a
stupa it is not possible to determine whether it contains a rcUc or
not. The erection of a stupa has always been regarded by the
Buddhists as a work of merit, which brings its author a stop nearer
to salvation. " Tope " is a corrupt Anglo-Indian word derived
from ihipa, the Prakrit form of sltlpa. In Burma a stupa is com-
monly knowai as a ' ■pagoda ' and in Ceylon as a 'ddgaba' — a Singalese
word derived from ' dfidlu ' = a ' rehc ' and ' (jarblia ' = receptacle or
shrine. In Nepal it is called a chaitya, a word which, like stupa,
originally meant a heap or tumulus (chitd) but subsequently came
to mean a sanctuary of any kind. See Fergusson, /. B. A., pp.
54-5 ; G. I. I., Vol. Ill, p. 30, Note I. For the details of the con-
struction and dedication of a stiipa see MahdvamSa, 169 sc[q ;.
Divydvaddna, p. 244 ; Cunningham, Bhilsa Topes, Ch. XIII ; H. A.
Oldfield, Sketches from Nepal, II, pp. 210-12 ; Foucher, L' Art Greco-
Bonddhiqve, pp. 94-98.

2 To visit all the remahis now brought to light at Tasila two
full days are required. At present the roads are unmetalled, and,
except in good weather and when they have recently been repaired,
are not suitable for motor cars. A 'Bareilly ' cart can generally be
obtained at Sarai-kala, but it is advisable to arrange for it in ad-
vance. In this and other matters the overseer at the ArchEeologioal
bungalow gives whatever assistance he can. Assuming that a
visitor has only five or six hours to spare, a good plan is to drive to
the Dharmarajikii stilpa (Cliir Tope), thence walk (about a mile and
a quarter) tlirough a defile in the hills to the stupa of Kunala, and
afterwards descend into the city of Sirkap. The conveyance can

36

36 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

then proceed over the ridge of Hathial to the stupa
of Kiinala and descend from there into the city of
Sirkap. From Sirkap I shall conduct the visitor
over the temple at Jandial and the remains of two
small stupas beyond it to the north. Thence we
shall make our way to the city of Sirsukh and the
Buddhist monuments at Lalchak and Badalpur ; and
final ly we shall visit what are in some respects the most
remarkable and the best preserved of all the monuments
at Taxila, namely, the Buddhist stupas and monas-
teries at Mohra Moradu and JauliaSi.

The Dharmarajika stupa or ' Chir Tope'^ (PL IX),
as it is locally kno\^Ti from the cleft driven through
its centre by former explorers, stands on a lofty
plateau high above the Tamra nala. Prior to the
spot being occupied by a Buddhist establishment,
it appears to have been the site of a village.
To this early stratum of habitation belongs a
collection of 28 coins of the Greek king Zoilus,
which were unearthed below the foundation of the
building H. The Great Stiipa, which stands in the
centre of the plateau, is much ruined — so much so
that fifty years ago Sir Alexander Cunningham affirmed
that only the core of the structure survived. The
recent excavations, however, in the course of which

meanwhile go round to the northern side of Sirkap and having
rejoined it the visitor can drive to the Temple of Jandial and
thence to Jlohra Moradu and Jauliari. Tlie antiquities at the
Archaeological Bungalow should, when accessible to visitors, be
seen after rather than before the monuments.

1 The unmetalled road that has been made to the Dharmarajika
stupa is a winding one and nearly two miles long. There is a sliort
cut across the Tamra nala immediately to the east of the Bhir
mound.

PLAN OF THE DHARMABAJIKA STUPA.

PLATE IV.

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 37

debris to the depth of some thirty feet has been removed
from around its base, have revealed considerable
sections of the old facing in a fair state of preserva-
tion, and have brought to light a large number of other
interesting structures, including stiipas, chapels and
monastic quarters, which, extending as they do over
a period of at least four centuries, furnish us with
important data for the history of local architecture.
Thanks, also, to the coins and other minor antiquities
found in association with them, they help us materi-
ally towards the solution of many chronological
problems connected with this period of ancient history.

The main structure, as now exposed, is circular The main
in plan with a raised terrace around its base, which structure
was ascended by four flights of steps, one at each of
the cardinal points. The core of the stupa is of rough
rubble masonry strengthened by walls, between 3
and 5 feet in thickness, radiating from the centre.
These construction walls stop short above the berm
of the stupa, instead of being carried down to its founda-
tions, and appear to belong to a subsequent recon-
struction of the fabric, which took place probably during
the Kushan epoch. The outer facing is of ponderous
limestone blocks with chiselled kanjur stone let in
between them for the mouldings and pilasters, the
whole having been once finished with a coating of
lime plaster and paint. The ornamental stone carving
on the face of the stiipa above the berm is best preserved
on the eastern side. Its most distinguishing features
are the boldness of its mouldings and the design of
its niches, which are framed alternately by trefoil
arches and doorways with sloping jambs, and divided

38 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

one from the other by Corinthian pilasters. The same
type of decoration is also found on smaller stupas on
this site belonging to the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries A.D.
Ap]5arently, the original stfipa was built in the time
of the Scytho-Parthian rulers, but repaired and enlarged
in the Kushan epoch and partly refaced again about
the 4th century A.D., to which period the decora-
tion above the terrace belongs.

The raised terrace and the open passage around
the foot of the stupa served in ancient days as proces-
sion paths {pradaJcsMna patka), round which it was
customary for the faithful to ' process,' keeping the
stiipa always on the right hand. Now-a-days, the
Buddhists ordinarily process three times round a
stupa or other sacred edifice, but in obedience to vows
they will process 7, 14 or even 108 times.

The original floor of the procession path is composed
of lirne mixed with river sand, and part of it in the north-
west quadrant is adorned in a curious fashion \^ath shell
bangles imbedded in the plaster and arranged in various
geometrical designs, some of the bangles being whole,
others cut in halves or in quarters.^ Above this floor
was an accnmulatio)! of debris about three inches thick
and over this, again, a second cJninam floor. In the
stratum immediately above this latter floor were found
many pieces of glass tiles. Probably, the whole of the
procession path was at one time paved wth these
glass tiles, and later on, when the pavement had fallen
into disrepair, a number of the tiles were removed

1 For tlie protection of this decoration, it lias for tlie time beinc
been covered again with a layer of earth.

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 39

from here to the chamber F^, where they were found
laid in a somewhat careless manner. ^

Immediately to the left of the steps on the eastern
side of the stupa is the lower part of a pillar, which
probably once supported a lion capital, like the pillars
in Sirkap (p. 75). Such pillars were doubtless
imitated from the well known pillars of Asoka, which
were frequently set up beside important Buddhist
stupas.

Of the minor antiquities foimd in the procession
passage the only ones of interest were some Gandhara
sculptures and coins. Of the former a typical
specimen is a figure of the Bodhisattva^ (?Sakya-
niimi) standing beneath an umbrella canopy in
the attitude of protection (abhaya-mudrd), with
attendant figm-es. The coins were found in a hoard
to the number of 355 concealed in a small block of
kanjux stone near the western steps. They comprise
specimens of Azes II, Soter Megas, Huvishka, Vasudeva
and issues of Indo-Sasanian or Kushano-Sasanian type.

The Great Stupa described above was, it need Small circulab
hardly be said, the first of the Buddhist structures stupas around
to be erected on the plateau. At the time when it g^RTjcTunB
was constructed, the plateau around was levelled

•■A. S. R. 1912-13, Pt. II, p. IS.

^ BodhiKattva means literally a being whose characteristic
(6'ai'.'!;a=Pali salla) and aim are enlightenment (hodhi). Gautama
was a Bodhisattva in his previous existence and also during his
historical existence up to the time when he attained enlightenment,
and became the Buddha. According to the Northern or Mahayana
School of Buddhism, there arc besides Gautama innumerable other
Bodhisattvas, both human and divhie, among the best known of
whom are : Avalokitesvara, MafijulrJ, JIarichi and Samantabhadra,
Vajrapani and Maitreya., the last of whom is the coming and last
Buddha of this age of the world.

40 A GUIDE TO T AXIL A

up and covered with a layer of grey river sand with
a floor of lime plaster above. On this floor or on the
debris which accumulated immediately above it there
was subsequently built, in a ring around the central
edifice, a number of small stupas, of which ten have
been unearthed up to date. In the plan on PI. IV
they are numbered, starting from the west, R*, S®, B",
B3, B", Bi«, B^o, D", Di, D2 and D^. These small
stupas were originally circular in plan and con-
structed of rough rubble cores generally faced with
square kafijur blocks, the only existing decoration
being a simple base moulding. Later on, several of
them, e.g., D^, and R*, were enlarged by the addition
of square bases. In several of these stupas, buried
at a depth of five or six feet beneath their bases, were
found relic deposits of which the two following may
be taken as typical examples.

In B^ the relic chamber, roughly constructed of
small stones and covered by a large slab of limestone,^
contained a casket of steatite and a miniature stupa
of fine grey limestone. Inside the casket, which is
i in. high and well-turned on the lathe, was a smaller
casket of silvery bronze If in. high, in the form of
a stupa crowned with umbrellas ; and in this miniature
receptacle were some calcined bones and ashes, and
a few gold, agate, pearl and bone beads. The stupa
of grey limestone is provided with a small cavity
underneath, in which were packed together a large
assortment of interesting beads and gems of the
following materials ; — ruby, crystal, banded agate,

' This stupa is no longer expoised to view.

THE DHARMARA.TIKA STtJPA 41

jacinth, 8ard, garnet, amethyst, cornelian, aquamarine,
green jasper, onyx, mother-of-pearl, glass, topaz
and bone. Some of these beads are in the shape
of animals or birds, such as the lion, tortoise, frog
and goose ; others are in the form of a crescent or
Iriralna^ ; others are barrel shaped, polygonal or amyg-
daloid. From the appearance of the little limestone
stupa it may be surmised that it formerly belonged
to an older structure, and that it was transferred to
the one in which I found it when its original resting
place had fallen into disrepair. Whether the gems
inside it were of the same date or not, is open to question.

In the relic chamber of another stupa (S^) were
foivr small earthenware lamps — one in each corner of
the chamber — four coins of the Scythian kings, Maues
and Azes I, and a vase of steatite. The vase con-
tained a miniature casket of gold together with three
gold safety pins, and some small beads of ruby, garnet,
amethyst, and crystal ; and inside the miniature
gold casket, again, were some beads of bone and ruby
with pieces of silver leaf, coral and stone, and along
with these the bone rehc. In February, 1917, these
relics were presented by the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford,
to the Buddhists of Ceylon and were enshrined by
them in the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Dalada Mali-
gawa) at Kandy.

The next stage of building around the Great Stupa Circle of small
is marked by the erection of gateways opposite the ohapels.
steps at the four cardinal points, and of a circle of

1 Tn>a;?ia=' Three jewels.' The trident device symbolises
the trinity of Buddhism : the Buddha, the Dharrna (Law) and the
Saiigha (Religious order).

42 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

small chapels which are similar in plan, as well in
purpose, to those at Jamalgarhi in the Frontier Pro-
vince, being intended for the enshrinement of Buddhist
images which were set up facing the Great Stiipa.
In Burma, it is against the Buddhist principles ever
to destroy a stiipa or any other work of merit, and
it may be presumed that the same practice obtained
among the Buddhists of ancient India. Accordingly,
wlien these chapels were built, the small stiipas then
standing, although much decayed, were suffered to
remain, the ground between them being partially
filled in with debris and the walls of the new chapels
carried over their tops.
Consecutive The earliest of these chapels as well as the walls
TYPES OF flanking the gateways, which date from the latter
BiAsoNKY. j^g^j^ ^1 ^Yie first century A.D., are built in a very dis-
tinctive style of masonry known commonly as ' diaper
patterned '. At the period to which they belong
the diaper was characterised by the use of relatively
small boulders and by the neatness of the piles of
small stones in the interstices between them.
Examples of this masonry can be seen in the chapels
numbered B^^, B^", Dl

About the close of the first century A.D. this small
diaper masonry gave place to a new type in which
larger boulders were employed. This is the third
distinct style of masonry employed on this site. It
ia found iu repairs executed to the original chapels
as well as in several chapels which were afterwards
added, and is well exemplified in the chambers
D^ and D*. With the lapse of time the buildings
in which it was employed in turn fell to ruin, the

Plate V.

1. HUBBLE.

SMALL DIAL KB.

LABGE BIAFEB.

I. SKMI-ASHLAB.

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 43

spaces between became filled with fallen debris, and
over this (at a height, that is to say, of several feet
above the original floor) were constructed other chapels
in still another kind of masonry. This fourth variety
is characterised by the use of ashlar and diaper
masonry combined, and appears to have been in
vog-ue in the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries A.D. It is
ixsed for the repair of the upper parts of the earlier
chapels as well as in the construction of new ones,
e.g., B^, and B^^. In the earlier examples of this semi-
ashlar masonry a single course of ashlar is inserted
between the larger boulders ; in the later examples the
single course is replaced by two or even three courses.

Thus, we have four clear and distinct types of
masoirry immediately around the Main Stupa (PI. V) :
first, the rubble and hanjnr work of the Scytho-Parthian
period ; secondly, the neat small diaper which came
into fashion in the 1st century A.D. ; thirdly, the coarse
and massive diaper of the 2nd century A.D. ; and
fourthly, the semi-ashlar, semi-diaper type of the
3rd and later centiuies. These fom consecutive types
are equally well illustrated in other buildings at the
Dharmarajika Stupa as well as in Sirkap and other
places.

The antiquities found in these chapels came mainly AIiinok antiqui-
from the highest stratum and consist for the most piiipels' round
part of stucco and terracotta figures, of which typical jIain Stupa.
examples are illustrated in PI, VI h and c.

(fc) Terracotta head, 11-1 in. high. The modelhng
of the features and treatment of the hair is singularly
reminiscent of Hellenistic work. Though found m

u2

44 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

a late stratum from B^^^ this head was probably
executed in the first or second century A.D. (PI. YLb).

(c) Stucco head of Bodhisattva, 9 in. high. The
hair is disposed in strands falling from the ushmsha^
and ending in curls suggestive of bronze technique.
From B12 (PL Vic).

In chapel S*, in its south-west corner, are the
remains of a raised platform, the body of which is
composed of mud. Buried in the mud were found
a large number of clay sealings impressed with the
Buddhist creed — Ye dharmd Jietu prabhavd, etc.,- — in
characters of the Gupta age. Such seals are frequently
found imbedded in ancient Buddhist stupas and even
in statues.

The visitor who has followed the route indicated
on the plan in dotted lines will have entered the
procession path by its southern entrance, will have
performed the fradalishiiia around the Great Stiipa,
and will now emerge again by way of the same entrance.
As he turns to the left, he will see near by and on his
SitJPA J. right hand a stiipa of considerable size designated
Ji in the plan. It consists of a square base, 32 ft.
4 in. square, composed of three tiers which diminish
in size as they rise. Above this base was formerly
a circular drum and dome crowned by an umbrella,
but all traces of these features have now vanished.
This stupa appears to have undergone extensive
repairs in the old days, and the decoration that remains
is of two different periods. To the earlier period
belongs the decoration of the lowest tier on the north

» U's7in?,<;^a = protuberance on the crown of the head, one of the
marks of a'great man {mahdpuni>iha).

I'LATE VI.

(h)

Ifl

TKIll!A<'()T'i\

1:11

MJ STICCd HEADS J-'J.'OM 'I'H l-l

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 45

side, consisting of groups of figures separated from one
another by debased Corinthian pilasters. The figures
are executed in stucco, with which material the whole
face of the stQpa was finished off, and represent seated
Buddhas accompanied by a devotee standing on
either side, whose attire is distinctively Indo-Scythic.
When the stupa was repaired, these groups of figures
had already suffered damage, and the frieze above
them was then lowered from its position over the
capitals of the pilasters, and set in a line with them,
thus resting on the shoulders of the Buddhas from which
the heads had disappeared. At the same time a new
series of pilasters was introduced on the eastern and
southern fagades of a more stunted form and surmoun-
ted with notched brackets let in between the capitals
and the frieze. On these two sides there are no
Buddhas.

The decoration on the second tier appears to belong
to the later repair. It consists of a row of elephants
alternating with pairs of Atlantes, the grotesque
attitudes and late and decadent modelling of which
are noteworthy.

A little further eastward is the stupa J^, in which Stupa J''
some relics of interest were found. The relic chamber
was at a height of 2 feet above the floor level and in
the centre of the structure. In it was a steatite casket
shaped like a Greek pyxis, which contained a small
box of silver ; and in this, again, was a still smaller
box of gold containing some minute fragments of
bone. There were also a few beads in the steatite
casket, but no coins with which to fix its date. The
shape of the steatite casket closely resembles that of

46 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

a casket discovered by the writer some j^ears ago iu
GJaaz Dheri at Charsadda, wliich was accompanied
by a coin of Zeionises^ ; but the mouldings and other
decorative features of J" bespeak for it a much later
date than that of Zeionises.
Stupas N"'^'. Passing by the stupas J^-^ and proceeding in a
northerly direction, we come to another group of
similar monuments, all of which are built in the semi-
ashlar type of masonry, are square in plan, and standing
to a height of some three feet or less. In the centre
of N^^ was found a large earthen ghard of plain red
earthenware containing fifteen copper coins of Shapur
II (309-379 A.D.). Another earthenware vessel which
was discovered in Stupa N^^* had been badly crushed,
but the earth from it yielded 18 beads of coral, lapis-
lazuh, shell and glass. The Stupa N^ yielded a few
beads only.

A little further on is a wide passage flanked on
either side by stupas and chapels and leading to other
chapels and also, no doubt, to the monastic quarters
(not yet excavated) on the north. Of the chapels
Chapels I\" alongside this passage, the two numbered N^' and
AND K'^. W^ are still quite imposing eveji in their ruin. They

are constructed of massive semi-ashlar masonry and
date from the fourth or fifth century A.D. Inside are
the remains of several images of Buddha, of which
the principal ones facing the entrances were of colossal
proportions. Of the one in ISI^^ only the feet and
lower part of the raiment have survived, but the size
of the former (5 ft. 3 in. from heel to toe) indicate

» A. S. It, iaO2-03, Pt. II, pp. 175-176.

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 47

that the figiire had an approximate height of 35 feet ;
and it follows, therefore, that the chapel itself must
have been hardly less than 40 feet high. The core
of these images, as of others of the same age, is composed
either of kaiijiir stone roughly fashioned to the shape
of the figure, or of mud, or of mud and stones com-
bined ; the stucco coating in which the features
and other details are made out, is almost pure lime. In
several instances red paint is still adhering to the
robes of the statues, and no doubt other pigments,
as well as gilding, were employed for their decoration.
Observe the excellence of the modelling in the feet
of some of the smaller figures. Of the heads and hands
belonging to these statues several were found amid
the charred debris of the chapels. One of these heads.
13J" high, of the conveutionahsed type, belonging
probably to one of the stairding figures in chapel N^'^,
is illustrated in PI. Via.

Retracing our steps and turning westward past StOpa N'
stiipa N^ we come to the little stupa N', which is
built on the ruins of an older monument. In its relic
chamber, which was constructed of neat kanjur stones,
was found the crystal lion illustrated in PL XVI, 11 ;
and, beneath it a casket of Gandhara stone, containing
a small box of silvery bronze with some muiute bone
relics within, accompanied by two small pearls and
one bead of bright blue paste.

In the narrow space between P' and P^" was a
broken Gandhara sculpture representing the offering
of honey by the monkey to the Buddha, and a little
below it was a small earthen pot containing five gold
coins of the later Kushan period, one solid gold ear-ring

4S

A GUIDE TO TAXlLA

Buildings P^

AND P'.

Tank.

Stupas K'

AND P'.

with pearls attached to it, a few gold beads, plain and
fluted, and a broken ornament of beaten gold with
a granulated border. This deposit seems to have
been placed here after the adjacent buildings had
become buried in debris.

A little to the west of this point the visitor passes
through a narrow passage between the buildings P^
and P2. The former of these was a stupa of the Kushan
period, the latter a chapel in the later style of masonry.
In this passage are two colossal Buddhas side by side,
seated on a stone plinth. Their hands rest In the lap
in the attitude of meditation {dlnjana-mudrd), but their
heads, unfortunately, are missing.

In the open space into which we now emerge is
a tank with four small stupas on its northern and
eastern sides, which are of some interest in connexion
with the much disputed question of Kushan chronology.
The tank is built of a rough variety of masonry coated
with lime plaster, and on its north side is a flight of
steps leading to the bottom. Now, the foundations
of the Stupas K2 and K^ project well over the northern
end of the steps, and the tank, therefore, must have
fallen into disuse and been filled in before ever
the stupas in question were built. But, as the tank
itself was not built until the first century A.D.
during the Scytho-Parthian epoch, it follows that the
stupas can hardly be assigned to a date earlier than
the 2nd century, though they may be considerably
more modern than that. In the stupa K^, however,
was found a relic-vase containing ashes and three
coins of Kanishka, and in the stupa P®, which is
apparently contemporary with it, was another earthen

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 49

vase and ten coins of Huvishka and Vasudeva, five
of which were found inside the vase along with some
ashes, and five outside. This is one of the links in a
long chain of evidence at Taxila which proves that the
Kushans followed and did not antedate the Parthians.

On the west side of the tank the Stupa K^ is also Stupa K'.
worthy of notice. Observe in par-t.icular the seated
image of the Buddha in the niche on the northern
side, and also the cornice and other details of a dis-
tinctively Hellenistic character.

On to the north side of this stupa were subsequently
built several small chambers, probably chapels, facing
north. They stand ou a common base adorned with a
row of stunted pilasters alternating with niches of the
same design as those above the terrace of the Main
Stupa, namely, trefoil arches and doorways with sloping
jambs in which figures of the Buddha were placed.

From this point it is well worth while to ascend View of the
the higher ground to the north and take a bird's-eye ■^^'^^ '^^^ ^"^
view of the whole site and of the surrounding country „„„„,^„„

~ -^ COUNTRY.

(PI. IX). Five years ago the ground level of the
whole excavated area was little lower than this ele-
vated plateau, and standing ou the edge of the latter
we get a good idea of the amount of debris that had
to be shifted before this array of buildings could be
exposed to view. The point to which this debris rose
around the Great Stupa itself is still clearly visible
on the sides of the structure.

As to the character of the remains that still lie
buried beneath the plateau on which we are standing,
a clear indication is afl'orded by other Buddhist sites
in the neighbourhood. If the visitor will look at the

60 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

other eminences in the valle}^ he will see that many of
them are crowned by groups of ancient ruins, and he
will observe that in each group there is a circular
moimd standing side by side with a square one. In
each of these eases the circular mound covers the
remains of a Buddhist stupa, and the square one
adjoining it the remains of a monastery. Similarly,
at the Dharmarajika Stupa, which was the chief
monument of its kind at Taxila, it may be taken for
granted that quarters were provided for the monks in
close proximity to the sacred edifice, and it is obvious
from the configuration of the ground that these
quarters must have occupied the northern part of
the site. To this monastery no doubt belong the
high and massive walls which have been laid bare on
the eastern side of the plateau, but judging by the
results obtained from other trial trenches it is doubtful
if this area would repay excavation.

Descending again to the lower level we pass, on our
Building H^. right hand, the shrine H^ which was probably intended
for an image of the Dying Buddha. This building
exhibits three tj^pes of masonry, representing three
different periods of construction. In the original
shrine the stonework is of the small diaper pattern,
but subsequently this shrine was strengthened and
enlarged by the addition of a contiguous wall in the
larger diaper style, as well as of a second wall
enclosing a pradaLsM)ja passage and portico in front.
Later on, when the level had risen several feet, addi-
tions in semi-ashlar masonry were made, and other
repairs were carried out at a still later date. The
only minor antiquities of interest in this building were

THE DHARMARAJIKA stupa 51

28 debased silver coins of the Greek king Zoilus (PI. Ill,
14). They were brought to light beneath the foundation
of the earliest chapel, where they appear to have been
deposited before the site was occupied by the Buddhists.

The two small pits M* are of interest only as affording Two pits M*,
some evidence as to the age when the Gandhara School
of Axt was flourishing. They were used for the mixing
of lime stucco and their floors were composed of
Gandhara reliefs laid face downwards. As the reliefs
in question were already in a sadly worn and damaged
condition before they were let into the floor, it may
safely be inferred that a considerable period — say a
century or more — ^had elapsed between the time when
they were carved and the construction of the pits.
But from the character of their walls the latter appear
to have been constructed in the 3rd or 4th century
A.D. and it follows, therefore, that the reliefs cannot
be assigned to a later date than the 2nd or 3rd century
A.D. Evidence of a precisely similar character was
also obtained from the chamber B^' on the eastern
side of the Great Stupa.

The complex of chambers G-'^ to G^ comprises Chapels G ''
chapels erected at different periods and in different
styles of m.asonry. From an architectural point of
view they are in no way remarkable, but the chapel
G^ merits notice, because it was here that one of the
most interesting relics yet discovered in India was
unearthed. The find was made near the back wall
of the chapel opposite the Main Stupa and about a
foot below the original floor. It consisted of a steatite
vessel mth a silver vase inside, and in the vase an
inscribed scroll and a small gold casket containing

62 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

some minute bone relics. A heavy stone placed over
the deposit had, unfortunately, been crushed down
by the fall of the roof, and had broken both the steatite
vessel and the silver vase, but had left the gold casket
uninjured, and had chipped only a few fragments
from the edge of the scroll, nearly all of which were
Inscription OF f^tunately recovered (PI. VII). The inscription,
THE YEAR 136. which is in the KharoshthI character and dated
in the year 136 (circa 78 A.D.), records that the relics
were those of the Lord Buddha himself. It reads
as follows : —

L. 1. Sa 100. 20. 10. 4. 1. 1. Ayasa Ashadasa
masasa divase 10. 4. 1., isa divase pradistavita
Bhagavato dhatu[o] Ura[sa] —

L. 2. kena Lotaphria-jjulraiut Bahaliena Noachae
nagare vastavena tena ime pradistavita Bhagavato dhatuo
Dliamara —

L. 3. ie Tachha'sie Tanuvae Bodhisatvagahami niaha-
rajasa rajatirajasa devaputrasa Khushanasa aroga-
daclihinae

L. 4. sarva-buddhana puyae pracluuja-hudhana puyae
araJia[ta*]na puyae sarvasa [tva*] na puyae mata-pitu
puyae mitra-maclm-nati-sa —

L. 5. lolii[ta*'\na puyae atniano arogadacMinae nianae
hotu [a], de samaparicJiago.

" In the year 136 of Azes, on the IQth day of the
month of Ashadha, on this day relics of the Holy One
(Buddha) were enshrined by Urasakes(?), son of Lota-
phria, a man of Balkh, resident at the town of Noacha.
By him these relics of the Holy One were enshrined
in the Bodhisattva chapel at the DJiarmardjikd sthpa
in the district of Tanuva at Takshasila, for the bestowal

Plate TII.

S

«r^s^^

i ^ =^ "^ r s-

^ c^ JV- ^ ^

TU

XV- cA >» c«4 «_

r. H» ]- <* :K>

f' J^ jC ^

^

?^

c^

THE DHAEMAEAJIKA STUFA 53

of perfect health upon the great king, king of kings,
the divine Kushana ; for the veneration of all Biiddhas ;
for the veneration of the private Buddhas ; for the
veneration of arhats ; for the veneration of all sentient
beings ; for the veneration of (his) parents ; for the
veneration of (his) friends, advisers, kinsmen, and
blood-relations, for the bestowal of perfect health upon
himself. May this gift be ".^

In the chamber G*, on the highest floor level,
were numerous kaiiiilr blocks belonging to a small
stupa. These blocks were scattered in a heap on
the floor defying any attempt to reconstruct from
them the design of the stupa from which they had
fallen. In one of the blocks were found two relic
caskets of steatite. One of the caskets contained a
smaller one of ivory, and in the latter waa a still smaller
one of gold adorned with rough geometric and floral
designs. Inside this gold casket were a piece of calcined
bone, a small gold bead, and a number of small pearls
of various sizes and shapes. In the other casket,
which was shaped like a Greek pyxis, was a smaller
silver box roughly ornamented and containing a
smaller golden casket with some thin gold leaf and two
pieces of calcined bone inside.

It was in this block of buildings that there was
also found, besides other antiquities, the bearded
male head of terracotta figured in PI. VI d, the style
of which differs markedly from the conventional style
of the early mediseval period.

■ This inscription was published ]>j the writer in J. R. A. S.,
October 1914, pp. 973-80.

54 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

Chapel R*. The small circular stupa R* was, as I have stateij
above, repaired and enlarged on several occasions.
The first addition made to the original structure was
a square base of neatly cut kaiijur blocks adorned
with slender pilasters of the Corinthian order and a
simple dentil cornice. Then came the two small
square projections on the western face of this base ;
and at the same time a shallow portico or chapel was
formed against this western face by running out two
short walls from the north-west and south-west corners
of the stupa. Lastly, this portico or chapel was
enlarged to about double its size by a further addition
on the west. Now, the projections are built in a type
of masonry which can be assigned \\ith some degree
of certainty to the second century of our era. But
contemporary with them are the very interesting
stucco reliefs mth which they and the western face
of the stupa base are adorned. That these sculptures
belong to the Gandhara School of Art, a glance
at them will suffice to show ; and we thus obtain here
another useful link in the chain of evidence which
determines the age when this school was flourishing.
Observe the reliefs in the small recesses between the
projections and side walls. One of them — on the south
face of the south projections — portrays the departure
of Gautama from Kapilavastu, accompanied, as usual in
the Gandhara School, by the vajra-henTev. The other
— on the northern face of the northern projection —
portrays the horse Kaiithaka taking leave of his master.
The animal is kneeling to kiss the feet of Gautama,
while Chhandaka and another figure on the one side
and the cajm-bearer on the other, look on.

THE DHARMAEAJIKA STUPA 55

Besides these reliefs, numerous stucco and terracotta
heads were found in the debris which had accumulated
in and around this chapel.

The building L, which stands immediately to the Buildino L,
south of R\ was a dr;uble-chambered chapel standing
on a high plinth, access to which was provided by a
flight of steps on the northern side. All that is now
left of it are the pliutl; walls constructed of large diaper
masonry of the Kushan period, but round about the
building were found numbers of Gandhara stone sculp-
tures which had served to decorate the superstructure
and which, there can be no doubt, were contemporary
with it and therefore of the Kushan period. Two
specimens of these carvings are illustrated in PI. VIII.
They are as follows : —

(a) Relief, 19 in. high, depicting, probably, the
presentation of offerings to the Buddha, after his
enlightenment. In the centre is Buddha seated cross-
legged on a cushioned throne with his right hand
raised in the attitude of protection [abhaya-nmdrd).
To his proper right is the F«jVa-bearer holding the
thunderbolt (vafra) in his right hand. In front of
him are three female worshippers, bearing offerings of
flowers or uncertain objects in their hands. To his
proper left are fom: other worshippers, three with
olierings, the fourth in an attitude of adoration
(PI. VIII a).

{b) Damaged rehef, 19 in. high, depicting Buddha's
first sermon in the Deer Park near Benares. In the
centre is Buddha seated crossed-legged on throne
beneath a canopy of foliage and turning with his right

56 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

hand the Wheel of the Law (dharma-chaha^), which is
supported by a triratnci^ set on a low pedestal. On
either side of the pedestal is a horned deer to symbolise
the Deer Park. On the right and left of the Buddha,
a Bodhisattva. Behind, on right, the Yajrafdni
holding fly-whisk (chaun) in right hand and vajra in
left. In front of him, two ascetics seated, and above,
a heavenly musician {gandharva) flying (PL VIII b).
In spite of the large number of Gandhara sculptm'es
recovered, the inscribed records on them are rare and
fragmentary. The most interesting is one engraved
in Kharoshthi letters on the side of a stone lamp,
which speaks of the " Agradharmarajika stiipa " at
Takshasila.
Apsidal On the western side of the site the most striking

Temple 1 . gj^iigce in old days must have been the apsidal temple
or ' Chaitya Plall,' where the faithful came together
for their devotions. It dates from Kushan times and
is built of large diaper masonry similar to that used
in building L. In plan, the temple is generally similar
to the ' Chaitya Halls ' excavated in the hill-sides at
Karll, Ajanta, Ellora and other places in Western
and Central India, but in this case the interior of the
apse is octagonal instead of round. Inside the apse
are the remains of an octagonal stupa of kaiijur
stone, 2 ft. 6 in. below the base of which is a floor

' Dliarma-chalra=' Wheel of the Law '. The teclinical expres-
sion for Buddha's first sermon in the Deer Park (Mrigadciva) near
Benares is Dharma-chaJcra-pravarlana, which literally means " the
turning of the wheel of the law." Hence the symbol of the first
sermon became a wheel, which is sometimes set on a throne and
sometimes on a column.

2 See p. 41, note 1.

I'LATE VIII.

CO

15

ft5

0^

S^--^'^-

E^ ^
^

3 ^

THE DHARMARAJIKA STUPA 57

wliicli must have been laid before the apsidal
temple was built. From what remains of the nave,
it appears to have consisted of nothing more than a
passage corresponding in width with one side of the
octagon and flanked liy very thick walls on either
side. The temple is of special interest as being one
of the very few structural Ijuildings of the kind known
to exist in India, and the first to he discovered in
Northern India. Since its excavation, however, aiiother
and far more imposing example has been found in
the city of Sirkap (p. 81).

The last of the structtrres which wo shall notice Chapels E
on this site is the range of small chapel cells (E and F^) '^*''° ^ •
on the western edge of the plateau. The cells are
raised on a plinth about 4 feet high and ascended by
flights of steps on their eastern side. In two of tliem,
namely : E^ and E", are the solid foundations of
circular stupas descending to a depth of 10 ft. below
the plinth level and evidently intended for the support
of a heavy superstructure. A similar stupa with its
superstructure still intact has been found in one of
the cells of the monastery at Mohra Moradu (p. 108).

In another of the chambers, F^, was a floor
of glass tiles of bright azure blue with a few other
colours — black, white and yellow — mixed with them.
These tiles average lOJ in. square by 1^ in. thick
and are of transparent glass, the first complete speci-
mens of their kind which have yet come to light in
India. In connexion vdth these tiles it is interesting
to recall the Chinese tradition that glass making v.'as
introduced into China from Northern India. The
tiles were foucd laid in a somewhat carol r-ss manner

58 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

on a bed of earth, and it was evident that they were
not occupying the position for which they were origin-
ally intended. Probably the}^ had been brought from
the procession path of the Great Stupa (p. 38).

From the Dharmarajika Stupa our way lies north-
wards through a defile in the Hathial ridge and thence
across the fields and up a steep hill-side to the Kunala
stupa. The distance is about a mile and a quarter,
and the track is rough and stony.

Plate IX.

&2a.iiki

CHAPTER V

Stupa op Kunala

At the time when Hsiian Tsang visited Taxila, the Identification
city of Sirkap had been deserted for more than five of the Stupa.
centuries and its ramparts and buildings must long
have been in ruins. The city in which the pilgrim
himself sojom'ned, is the city now kno\\Ti as Sirsukh,
where numerous structures of the early mediseval
period are still traceable. In the neighbourhood of this
city there were four famous Buddhist monuments
which the pilgrim described. One of these was the
tank of Elapatra, the Dragon King ; another was a
stupa which marked the spot where, according to the
Buddha's prediction, ' one of the four Great Treasures
will be revealed when Maitreya appears as Buddha^ ;
a third was the stiipa of the " sacrificed head," said to
have been built by Asoka and situated at a distance
of 12 or 13 li to the north of the capital ; the fourth
was a stiipa also said to have been built by Asoka
to commemorate the spot where his son Kunala had had
his eyes put out. The first and second of these monu-

1 The four Great Treasures referred to are those of Elapatra
in Gandhara, Panduka in Mithila, Piigala in Kaliiiga, and Haiika
in the Ka^i (Benares) country. 6'/. T. Wattcrs, On Yuan C'Incaiuj.
p. 243.

59 e2

60 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

ments were rightly identified many years ago by General
Cunningham : the one with the sacred tank now known
as the Paiija Sahib at Hasan Abdal, the other with a
ruined stiipa which cro'svns the ridge above BaotI Find.
As to the other two, Cunningham laboured under the
false idea that the city which Hsiian Tsang visited was
the city on the Bhir mound instead of in Sirsukh, and
he could not, therefore, but fail to identify the location
of the two stiipas. Now that we know that the earliest
city of Taxila was on the Bhir mound and the latest
in Sirsukh, it is clear that the stupa of the " sacrificed
head " is none other than the Bhallar Stupa, which
occupies a commanding position on the extreme western
spur of the Sarda hill, and it is probable that the
memorial of Kunala's misfortune is the stupa which
occupies a hardly inferior position on the northern slopes
of Hathial, commanding a splendid view of the lower city
of Sirkap and of the whole of the Haro valley (PI. X).
ITsiian Tsang describes this stiipa as being above 100
ft. high, and situated to the south-east of the city
of Takshasila on the north side of the south hill. The
blind, he says, came here to pray, and many had their
jyrayers answered by the restoration of their sight. ^
He then proceeds to narrate the story of Kunala :
of how his stepmother Tishyarakshita fell in love with
hira and induced Asoka to send him as Viceroy to
Takshasila ; of how she then wrote a despatch in her
husband's name and sealed it with the seal of his teeth
while he slept, bringing accusations against Kunala
and ordering his eyes to be put out ; of how the minis-

' CJ. 1. Watters, On Yuan Chning, Vol. I, pp. 245 sq.

I'LATE X.

STUPA OP KUNALA 61

fcers shrank from executing the order, but the prince
himself insisted on obedience to his father ; of how he
then wandered forth with his wife and begged his way
to the far-oii capital of his father ; of how his father
recognised him by his voice and the strains of his lute ;
and of how the cruel and vindictive queen was put
to death and the prince's eye-sight restored at Eodh-
Gaya through the help of the Buddhist Arhat Ghosha.^
The southern hill referred to by Hsiian Tsang can
only be the hill of Hathial which bounds the Haro
valley on the south ; and the most conspicuous stupa
on its northern side is the one on the northernmost
ridge erected almost directly over the remains of
the old wall of Sirkap. This stupa rests on a lofty Desckiptic
rectangular base which measures 63 ft. 9 in. from
east to west bj^ 105 ft. 1 in. from norLh to south and
was provided v/ith a stepijed approach at its northern
end. The bass rises in three terraces, the lowermost

' In its essence Uic story of Kunala and Tishyaraksliiti is Iho
same as that of Hippolytus and Pliaedra, and it is not unlikely
that it was derived from tlio classical Greek legend. Such legends
must hare been familiar enough among the Eurasian Greeks in the
north-west of India. Witness, for example, the drama of Antigone
portraj'ed on a vase found at Peshawar. Some versions of the
story represent Asoka as sending his son to restore order in Tak-
sliasila on the advice of a Minister of State, not through the in-
strumentality of TishyarakshitS, and in some versions the prince dies
after his return home without any miracle transpiring to restore
his eye-sight. His real name was Dharma\'ivardhana and his
father called him Kunala because his eyes were small and beautiful,
like those of the Hiniavat bird of that name. The blinding of the
prince was the outcome of evil karma wrought in a previous exist-
ence. According to one story, he had blinded 500 deer ; according
to another, an arhat ; or, according to the Avadanakalpalata, he
had taken the eyes (relics) out of a chaitya. Ghosha, the name of
the arhat who restored his eye-sight to Kunala, was also the name
of a famous oculist of this district. Gf .T. Watters, he. cU.

62 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

of which is relieved by a series of stunted Corinthian
pilasters resting on an elaborated " torus and scotia"
moulding and foiTQsrly surmounted by a dentil cornice
and copings, with Hindu brackets of the " notched "
variety intervening between the capitals and the
cornice. The middle terrace is plain, but covered
with a coating of plaster. The uppermost terrace
was decorated in much the same way as the lowest
one, but was nearl}^ three times as high ; and the
base mouldings and entablature were proportionately
more massive and elaborate.

Of the superstructure of this monument only a
fragment of the core has survived in situ, but the form
and construction of the terraced base, coupled with
the style of the decorative details, leave no room for
doubt that the Kunala Stupa is of the same age as the
gTcat Bhallar Stupa on the opjposite side of the valley ;
and to judge by the character of the many architectural
members belonging to the upper part of the structure
which were lying in considerable numbers round its
base, it seems fairly safe to conclude that the elevation
of the drum and dome resembled that of the Bhallar
Stupa ; in other words, that the drum was circular
and strikingly lofty in proportion to the size of the
monument and that it was divided into six or seven
tiers, sHghtly receding one above the other, which were
adorned with rows of pilasters, fi'iezes and dentil cornices
in much the same fashion as the terraces of the base.
As in the Bhallar Stupa, too, as well as in other stupas
of this date, the rehc chamber was no doubt placed
near the top of the edifice ; for no trace of any chamber
was found in or below the plinth of the building.

STUPA OP KUNALA 63

A remarkable feature of this monument is the
dehcate concave curvature of the plinth. The western
side of the stupa, for example, measured in a straight
line from end to end, is 74 ft. 10 m. long ; but the
line thus drawn does not coincide with the actual
line of the plinth, which recedes gradually inwards
towards the centre, the greatest distance between the
arc and the chord being three inches. It is well
known, of course, that entasis of the columns and cur-
vature of other lines, horizontal as well as perpendi-
cular, was systematically employed in Greek archi-
tecture in order to correct the apparent defects caused
by optical illusions ; and it may be that the idea was
introduced from Western Asia, along with the many
other Hellenistic features which characterise the archi-
tecture of Taxila and the North- West. But, if this
was so, it would appear that the optical principles
which underlay the idea could not have been properly
understood by the builders of the Kunala Stupa ; for
in this case the concave curvature has the effect
of exaggerating the illusion, instead of correcting it.

This stiipa, which I assign to the third or fourth
century A.D., was not the earhest monument to be
erected on this interesting site. Buried in the core of
the structm'e and towards its north-west corner, was
found another and very much smaller stupa which
appears from its style to have been erected in the
first century A.D., at a time when the city wall
alongside of it on the east was still standing intact.
This older edifice is perched on a small rocky eminence
and is standing to a height of 9 ft. 8 in. It is
constructed of rough blocks of limestone and con-

64 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

sists of a sfjuare plinth with drum and dome above,
the only feature that has disappeared being the crown-
ing umbrella. Originally the rough masonry was
covered with lime plaster on which the mouldings and
other decorative details were worked, but all the plaster
has now fallen from the sides.
MoNAbTEKY. Immediately to the west of the Kunala Stupa and
at a slightly higher level is a spacious and sohdly built
monastery in the semi-ashlar stjde, which is manifestly
contemporary with the later sttipa. It is standing to
a lieiglit of between 13 and li feet and consists, appa-
rently, of two courts — the larger to the north and the
smaller to the south, the total length of the exterior
wall opposite the stupa being about 192 feet, and the
width of the larger court about 155 feet. The larger
court is of the usual form (chaluhs'cda) with an open
rectangle in the centre surrounded by a raised verandah
and cells. In the cells are small arched niches for the
reception of lamps. Only the east side of this monastery
has yet been excavated and even on this side the digging
has not yet been carried down to the floor level of
the cells.

CHAPTER VI

SlUKAP

Before descending into the lower city of Sirkap City wall
we sliall halt for a moment at the fortifications on the
eastern side of the cit,y, a short section of which has
recently been excavated. These fortifications are
constructed of rubble masonry throughout, like other
structures of the GJreek and Scytho-Parthian epochs,
and vary in thickness from 15 ft. to 21 ft. C in.
They arc strengthened at iiitcrvals by solid bastions,
which, so far as they have been examined, arc
rectangular in plan. In some cases the bastions arc
further supported )jy sloping buttresses which were
apparently added at a later date. The height of the
walls and bastions was probably between 20 and 30
feet, and it may be assumed that the bastions were
built in two storeys, of which the upper was doubtlesa
hollow and loopholcd. The walls between the bastions
would also be loopholed above and provided with a
terrace on the inner side for the use of the defenders.

As stated in the first chapiter (p. 4), the city of
Sirkap appears to have been founded during the supre-
macy of the Indo-Greeks in the second century B.C.
and to have remained in occupation during the Scytho-

65

66 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

Parthian and Kushaii epochs until the reign of
Wima-Ivadphises. Of the buildings hitherto excavated
inside its walls those in the uppermost stratum apper-
tain mainly to the Early Kushan and Parthian settle-
ments. Below them is a stratum of remains which
are assignable probably to the Scythian epoch, and
below these, again, two more strata belonging to the
Greek era, after which virgin soil is reached at a depth
of between 14 and 17 feet. Of the pre-Parthian re-
mains our information, as yet, is relatively meagre,
since the digging has been chiefly confined to the
remains nearest the surface, the object in view being
to obtain as clear an idea as possible of the lay-out
of the city in Parthian and Kushan days before opening
up the structures beneath, and thereby not only con-
fusing the plan but possibly jeopardising the safety
of the buildings.

From the bird's-eye view of the excavations which
he got from the stupa of Kiuiala, the visitor will have
observed that they extend in a broad strip from the
northern wall right through the heart of the lower city,
and that they comprise a long section of the High Street
running due north and south together with several
large blocks of buildings on either side of it. Am oner
these buildings is a spacious Apsidal Temple of the
Buddhists and several small shrines belonging either
to the .Jaina or to the Buddhist faith ; but most of them
are dweUing houses or shops of the citizens, and one,
distinguished from the rest by its size and by the
massiveness of its construction, is almost certainly a
P.4LACE. palace. This last named building is at the south
end of the excavations and the first to be reached

SIRKAP 67

after leaving the Kunala Stupa. It stood almost at
the corner, where the two streets from the North and
West Gates must have met, and thus occupied a
commanding position in the lower city. On the
western side, which faces the High Street, it has a
frontage of 352 feet, and from west to east it measures
250 feet, but its eastern limits have not yet been
reached. The oldest parts of the palace are constructed
of a rough rubble masonry and date probably from
the Scytho-Parthian era, but there are numerous later
repairs and apparently several additions, particrilarly
in the Zenana apartments on the north, though they
cannot always be distinguished with precision. In
courts of special importance, as for instance in the
large court marked C^^, an ashlar facing of kanjur
stone is also employed, while some of the thresholds
consist of blocks of limestone. In many of the
courts and rooms chases indicate that beams were
let into the walls and wooden panelling probably
affixed thereto. In other chambers the surface of
the walls was covered with lime or mud plaster, no
doubt finished with a coating of paint.

So far as it has been exposed, the palace consists
of five series of apartments arranged in groups around
a central court. The plan of these can best be appre-
ciated by standing on the wall in the middle of the
Palace at the point marked X in the plan (PI. XI).
The large court in the centre of the west side, together
with the chambers round about it, contained the chief
living rooms, one of which (B^^) is a bathroom with a
small tank in the middle and a channel to carry off
the water. This com't is paved with irregular blocks

68 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

of limestone and on its southern side is a raised dars
with a frontage of 27 ft. 10 in. and a depth of 20
ft. 5 in. This probably was the court of private
audience (Diwan-i-Khass). To the south of this court
.is a smaller court (C^'') with chambers round about,
which probably served for the retainers and guard.
On the opposite or north side of the main court is
another large group of chambers which were the zenana
quarters of the women, separated from the rest of
the palace by substantial walls. Beyond them, again,
to the north are other chambers which appear to have
been added later. On the east side of the ]ialace are
two more groups of apartments. The group on the
south consists of a spacious court with chambers on
the west and a raised dais, which no doubt supported
an open hall, on the south. This court seems to have
been used for serni-oflicial or public pirrposes (Diwaa-i-
lAmm), the rooms aroujid it doing duty as offices. Lead-
ing off from it on its north side is another complex
of rooms which probably served as reception rooms for
guests. The rooms in this court arc less regularly
built and somewhat smaller than in the rest of the
palace.

Although this palace is considerably larger and
built more snlistaritially than the private houses,
there is nothing at all pretentioirs in its planning or
sumptuous in its adornment. This is a feature which
is specially commented on by Philostratus, the bio-
grapher of Apollonius, who says, when speaking of the
palace, that they saw no magnificent architecture
there, and that the men's chambers and the porticoes
and the whole of the vestibule were very chaste in

PLATE XI.

SIBKAP: PLAN OF PALACM.

SIEKAP 69

style. 1 These remarks of Philostratus are valuable
as affording another proof of the substantial correctness
of his account of Taxila, which, as we shall presently
see,2 finds somewhat remarkable corroboration in the
peculiar character of the private houses.

In spite, however, of the palace being so bare and
unadorned, its remains are singularly interesting, if
only for the sake of the plan they disclose — the first
plan of a building of this kind v/hich has yet been
recovered iu India ; and this interest is still farther
increased when we reahse that, so far as it has been
exposed, the plan bears a striking resemblance to those
of the Assyrian palaces of Mesopotamia. This will
best be understood by comparing it with the palace,
for example, of Sargon at Khorsabad.^ In the latter
we have the same great court surrounded by chambers,
and on the one side of it, the same court for retainers ;
on the other, the apartments of the zeirana. Here, also,
we have the other half of the palace occupied, just
as it is at Taxila, by reception and public rooms. In
the palace of Sargon there is aiiother block of apartments
farther out on this side, at the point v.diere some more
chambers are also beginning to appear iu the palace at
Taxila. The Zikurrat tower, which in the palace of
Sargon was placed at the side of the zenana, is a feature
which appertains peculiarly to the Assyrian religion.
Whether it will be found in the Taxila Palace,
remains to be seen. Possibly it may prove, as the
excavation advances, that its place was taken by

1 Philostratus, op. at. 13k. II, Cli. XXV.

2 P. 71.

" Perrot and C^hipicz, lliMoirc de V Arl aiiliqve, Tume II, PI. V,

\

70 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

some other sacred edifice. That a palace at Taxila
of the Greek, Saka or Pahlava period should have
been planned on the sanae lines as an Assyrian palace
of Mesopotamia need occasion no surprise, when we
bear in mind the vitality and persistency of the in-
fluence which Assyria exerted upon Persia, Bactria and
the neighbouring countries. But it certainly gives an
added interest to these buildings and helps us in our
efforts to disentangle the archaeological problems of
this period.

The small antiquities found in this palace consist of
terracottas and potteries, various small bronze, copper
and iron objects, beads, gems and coins. Among the
last mentioned was a deposit of 61 copper coins of
Azes I, Azes II and Aspavarma, Gondopharnes, Her-
maeus and Kadphises I. One find of special interest that
deserves to be mentioned here, was a number of
earthenware moulds for casting coins, which were
found in a room or shop just outside the palace
and near its south-west corner. The coins, of which
the impress is clear in many of the moulds, are those
of Azes II. Probably the moulds belonged to the
S plant of some forger of the Pahlava epoch. Eight
of them are complete and twenty broken.
Plan of Houses. Proceeding from the palace down the High Street
in the direction of the North Gate of the city, we come
to several large blocks of dwelhngs, separated one
from the other by narrow side streets. ^ Although

1 It will be noticed that both streets and houses rise higher and
higher as they recede from the High Street. The reason of this is
that the High Street was kept clear of debris, while the debris on
either side of it was steadily accumulating.

SIRKAP 71

the plans of these houses exhibit considerable variety,
they were all based on the same principles. The
unit of their design, that is to say, is the open quad-
rangle surrounded by chambers (chaluhsdla) , just as
it is in the palace described above, and this unit is
repeated two, three, four or more times according to
the amount of accommodation required by the occu-
pants, the small rooms fronting on to the street being
usually reserved for shops. The walls are constructed
either of rough rubble or of the diaper masonry which
came into fashion at the beginning of the Kushan
period ; and both inner and outer faces were covered
with lime and mud plaster, to which traces of paint
are still found adhering. Wood was used for the
fittings, such as doors and windows, as well as for
roof timbers, and in some cases, apparently, for
panelling on the walls. The fact that no tiles have
been found in any of these houses indicates that
the roofs were flat and covered with mud. A
remarkable feature of these houses is that, although
is some cases there are doors communicating between
two or more rooms, there are no doors giving
direct access from these rooms to the interior
court or to the streets outside — the practice having
apparently been to enter these lower chambers by
means of stairways or ladders descending from
the rooms above. This practice is alluded to by
Philostratus, who says that the houses are so
constructed that, if you look at them from the
outside, they appear to have only one storey, but, if
you go into them, you find in reality that they have
underground rooms the depth of which is equal to the

72 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

height of the chambers above. ^ As a matter of fact, the
lower floor of the houses is not actually underground,
but anyone seeing only a single row of windows from
the street, and having to descend from the upper
chambers into the iaJil-Jidiids below, which were un-
provided with doors or windows, might well be excused
for calling them underground cellars.

Another noticeable feature of the Sirkap dwellings
is the amount of accommodation provided in them,
which, even if they were not more than two storeys,
was greater than a single family in that age would be
rkely to require. It may be that, like the " insulae "
of ancient Eome or the blocks of tenements in many
Itahan and other cities of to-day, they were occupied
by several families together ; but it is also a plausible
hypothesis that this quarter of the city was the Uni-
versity- quarter, and that these were the houses of the
professors and their pirpils, who would certainly need
more accommodation than coirld be obtained in any
ordi)iary dwelling.

Of the stupas referred to there are two typical
examples — both probably of Jaina origin.^ The one in
Shrine in block G — the first block to which we come on the
Block G. rigljt (east) side of the High Street — stands in a court-
yard facing the street and consists of a small rectan-

1 Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Ttjana, Bk. II, Ch. XXIII,
^ The Fame of Taxila as a University city belongs to an

earlier age, riz., the age o£ the Jatakas, but it is not unreasonable

to avsurae that it still continued a scat of learning up to the lirst

century of our era.
^ ^ The reason for regarding these stiipas as of Jaina rather than

Buddhist origin, is that they closely resemble certain Jaina stiipas

depicted in reliefs from JIatiiura.

SIRKAP 73

gular base adorned witli a series of five pilasters on
each side, with a simple base moulding, and with a
cornice relieved by the familiar " bead and reel "
pattern. The drum, dome and umbrella of this stilpa
have fallen, but parts of them were unearthed in
the debris of the courtyard, along with fiortions
of two Persepolitan columns with crowning lions^
which used to stand, probably, on the corners of the
base, and numerous members of the balustrade which
ran around its edge, lu the centre of the base and
at a depth of about 4 feet from its top was a small
relic chamber, and within this chamber was a steatite
casket containing eight copper coins of the Scythian
king Azes I, and a smaller casket of gold, in which
were some fragments of calcined bone, small pieces of
gold leaf, and cornelian and agate beads. Azes I came
to the throne about the year .58 B.C., and this stupa
probably dates, therefore, from the latter jjart of that
century.

Close by the south side of the staircase is a
small square plinth, the purpose of which is doubtful.
A plinth of a similar kind occurs at the shrine in
block G and at the bigger stupa at Janclial. Judging
from their superficial character, it seems hardly likely
that they were intended to sustain the weight of a
column. They may, perhaps, have served as the bases
of lampstands.

The stupa in the next block (F), which belongs to Shkine of the
the same period, is a somewhat more pretentious ^°^-'^'"'^^'^^*'^'^_'^ „
building (PI. XII). On the front fajade of the building

1 Imitated no doubt from tho pdlars which the Emperor Afojka
set up at many of the most famoiLs Buddliiat stnpaa.

74 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

all the pilasters are of the Coriuthian order, two having
rounded and the remainder flat shafts. The interspaces
between these pilasters are relieved by niches of three
varieties. The two nearest the steps resemble the
pedimental fronts of Greek buildings ; those in the
centre are surmounted by ogee arches like the familiar
" Bengal " roofs ; and those at the corner take the
forms of early Indian toranas, of which many examples
are portrayed on the sculptures of Mathura.i Perched
above each of the central and outer niches is a bird,
apparently an eagle, and it will be observed that one
of these eagles is double-headed. The presence of
this motif at Taxila is interesting. It is known to
occur for the first time in Hittite sculptures from
Western Asia ; and it is found also on an early ivory
of the Geometric period from Sparta. But later on
it seems to have been esi^ecially associated with the
Scythians, and we may well believe that it was the
Scythians who introduced it at Taxila. From the
Scythians, probably, it was adopted into the Imperial
Arms of Eussia and Germany, and from Taxila it found
its way to Vijayanagar and Ceylon.

The whole facing of kaiijur stone, including mould-
ings and other decorations, was originally finished
with a thin coat of fine stucco and, as time went on,
numerous other coats were added, several of which,
when first excavated, showed traces of red, crimson
and yellow paint. Both drum and dome were pro-
bably adorned with decorations executed in stucco
and painted, and the dome was surmounted by three

1 Cf. V. A. Smith, Jain Slilpa and other Antiquilies of J\Ialhura.
V\. XII.

Plate XII.

SIRKAP "75

umbrellas. At the edge of the steps and round the
base of the stupa was a low wall decorated on the
outside with the usual Buddhist railing, parts of which
were found in the courtyard below. A good idea of
the appearance of the stupa, when intact, may be
obtained from a relief of the Mathura School published
in V. A. Smith's Jain Stupa and other Antiquities of
Mathura, PI. XII, which appears to have been executed
at no great length of time after the erection of this
building. But in this relief the style of the stupa is
more pronouncedly Indian than the stupa in Sirkap.
In the latter, the whole basis of the decorative design is
Hellenistic, the mouldings, pilasters, dentil cornice and
pedimental niches being all classical, while the only
Indian features are such subsidiary details as the
torana, the ogee-arched niche and the brackets above
the pilasters. It remains to add that the chamber
containing the relics in this stupa was found in the
centre of the base at a depth of 3 ft. 2 in. below its
top, but it had long since been rifled of its contents.
In the block of buildings (F) to which this shrine
belongs a discovery of considerable value was made in
the shape of an Aramaic inscription carved on what Aeamaic

, , , , 1-11 t ^ -^ INSCRIPTION.

appears to have been an octagonal pillar oi wnite
marble (PL Xllla). This inscription was found built
into the wall between two chambers, «^ and a^, in the
north-west corner of the block, and, inasmuch as these
chambers date approximately from the reign of Azes
I, it must have been buried in its present worn and
broken condition before the beginning of the Christian
era. The letters as well as the language are Aramaic
and of a type which is to be assigned to the fourth

f2

76 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

centurj' B.C. but the meaning of the record is still a
matter of uncertainty. Dr. L. D. Baniet and Prof.
Cowley interpret it as referring to the erection of a
palace of " cedar and ivory, "^ but according to another
interpretation it relates to a j^rivate compact and the
penalty to be paid for breaking it. The discovery of
this inscription is of special interest in connexion with
the origin of the Kharoshthi alphabet, since it confirms
the view that Kharoshthi was derived at Taxila (which
was the chief city of the Kharoshthi district) from
Aramaic, the latter having been introduced into the
North-West of India hj the Achaemenids after their
conquest of the country about 500 B.C.

Minor antiqtji- The minor antiquities recovered from these and

TIES OF SiEK.vp. other houses in Sirkap are many and various. They
include large collections of earthenware vessels of
nirmerous shapes and sizes, from lamps and drinking
^ goblets and incense burners up to the great store-

jars, three to foiu' feet in height, in v/hich grain, oil
and the hke were kept ; terracotta figiu'ines and toys ;
srone bowls, goblets, decorated jjlaques and dishes ;
iron vessels and utensils, among which are folding
chairs, tripod stands, horse's bridles, keys, sickles,
spades, swords, daggers, shield bosses and arrow-
heads ; bronze and copper cups, lamps, caskets, scent
bottles, ornamental pins, bells, finger rings ; several
thousands of coins and numerous pieces of gold and
silver jewellery. A description of these many classes
of antiquities is beyond the scope of this guide book,

Jewht.lery from but there are two finds of gold and silver jewellery

House E.

1.7. R.A. S. 191.-., pp. .340-7.

Plate XIII

/,// SIJ!h'Al': AHAMA/C
IXSCini'TfOX.

I hi JAi'ijAX: srrpA

CASKKT.

SIRKAP: PLAN OF HOUSE E AND APSIDAL TEMPLE D

PLATE XIV.

1 .J. _

J

~-\ \ \

—

1 ^ -^ ' ■

i

!

1 ,

j

"i — V'
— U- i---

' ' "1

i

1

! t
t-- t- — - ■

; 1 .

— \

BLOCK. F

H
i^

SIRKAP 77

wliich deserve particular mention, both because of
their intrinsic value and interest, and because the
objects comprised in them have been removed to
Lahore, where manj^ visitors to Taxila may not perhaps
have an opportunity of seeing them. Both finds were
made in Block E, the one in chamber C-^' in the
second or Scythe- Parthian stratum and the other at a
slightly higher level on the north side of the central
courtyard (PI. XIV). The objects recovered were as
follows :—

From Chamber C^^.

Bronze statuette of the child-god Harpocratcs,
holding a linger to his lips in token of silence. In the
left hand he carried some object, possibly a flower,
which has disappeared. Late Hellenistic work (PI.
XV).

About two feet below this statuette in the same
chamber was brought to light an earthen jar closed at
the top with a disc and containing the objects enu-
merated below. The disc is composed of two thin
plates, iron on the inside, silver on the outside, ri vetted
at the edge with silver nails. Originally, it may have
done duty as the boss of a shield.

Head of Dionysus in silver repousse, with stand
beneath. 1 The head of the god is bald on top and
wreathed with a grape-vine. His ears are pointed.
In his right hand he holds a two-handled wine-cup
(cantliarus). Behind the head passes the curved staff
{ihijrsas) with a bell suspended at its end. The front

1 The stand is not illustrated m PI. 1.

18 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

of the stand is adorned with a conventional palmette
and rosette ; behind it, is a curved projection which
enabled the head to be set in a slanting position on
the table. The relief is Hellenistic in style and of
very high class workmanship (Frontispiece).

3. Silver spoon, with handle terminating in a
cloven hoof and attached to the back of the spoon by
a " rat-tail " ridge. Greek pattern. Precisely similar
spoons have been found at Pompeii (PI. XVI, 15).

4. Two pairs of gold bangles. The ends were
closed with separate discs of beaten gold.

5. Pair of gold ear-rings, provided with clasp
attached by ring hinge. The clasp is of a double
horse-shoe design ornamented with cincjuefoil rosettes,
two hearts and strap. The hearts and rosettes were
formerly inlaid with paste, which has now perished
(PI. XVI, 1 and 2).

6. Two ear-pendants of gold. They are composed
of rings decorated on the outside with double rows
of beads and granules, with granulated bud-like drops
depending from them (PI. XVI, 3 and 5).

7. Flower-shaped pendant of gold, composed of
SIX petals, backed by granulated ribbings and sis-
smaller heart-shaped petals at their base, one inlaid
with paste or jewels. Attached to the hps of the
larger leaves is a ring with granulated edge, from
which chains were suspended with bells at their ends
(PI. XVI, 4).

8. Plain gold finger ring, with flattened bezel
engraved with Kharoshthi legend, " Sadardasa (?) "
and Nandipada symbol (PI. XVI, 6).

9. Gold hoop finger ring, with oval bezel enclosing

I'LATE XY.

t'77>7r J I'- V7/-iTTl-.'h^ /J// U J fl'llflf I 7'/;,S'.

I'LATK XVT.

fN

SIRKAP

fd>

cornelian engraved with cornucopia, fluted vase, and
spear in the Hellenistic style (PI. XVI, 7).

10. Gold hoop finger ring, with oval bezel enclosing
silver inlay. The device on the silver is too corroded
to be distinguished (PI. XVI, 8).

11. Gold hoop finger ring, with flat rectangular
bezel and clusters of four drops on either side. The
inlaid stone is lapis-lazuli, engraved with the figure
of a warrior armed with spear and shield and an
early Brahmi inscription to his proper left. The
style of the engraving is Hellenistic. The inscription
reads : — . . . . samanavasa (PI. XVI, 9).

12. Gold chain, composed of four double plaits,
fitted with ring at one end and hook at the other
(PI. XVII, 8).

13. Six cylindrical pendants belonging to necklace.
The casing is gold open-work of various reticulated
designs, enclosing cores of turquoise paste, green jasper,
and other stones. Attached to each are two small
rings for suspension (PL XVII, 7).

14. Seven open-work gold beads, probably inlaid
with paste (PI. XVII, 6).

15. Pair of gold ear-rings, bound with wire at ends
(PI. XVII, 4 and 5).

16. Gold ear-ring of eoarse workmanship (PI.
XVII, 3).

17. Oval locket of gold. The jewel is missing from
the centre.

18. Pair of diamond-shaped attachments, probably
for ear-rings, of gold inlaid with garnets en c&buclion
(PI. XV.U, 9).

80 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

19. Pair of hollow club-shaped gold pendants
(PI. XVII, 10).

20. 60 hollow gold beads, round and of varying
sizes (PI. XVII, 13^

The articles contained in the above deposit appear
to have been buried during the 1st century B.C. But
a number of these articles had then been in use for a
considerable time, as is proved by the extent to which
they had been worn. I assign the bronze statuette to
the 1st century B.C. and the lapiz-lazuli ring and the
head of Dion}^sus, which is certainly the finest example
of Greek work: yet discovered in India, to the previous
century.

From the north side of Central Courtyard.

21. Gold repousse figure of winged ^Aphrodite or
Psyche (PI. XVII, 11).

22. Round gold repousse medallion. In centre,
winged Cupid dancing, encircled by flowing lilies. This
and the previous figure are of coarse workmanship,
made apparently by beating a thin gold plate into a
mould (PI. XVII, 12).

23. Nine oval-shaped jacinths cut en cahuclion and
hollowed behind. They are engraved with various
intaglio figures of victory, Eros, busts, etc.

21. One flat cornelian ditto, with bust intaglio.
Broken.

25. Three garnets en cahuchon, dot and comma
shape, used for ijilay.

26. Two oval glass gems — (a) with flat face banded
in green, white and blue ; engraving indistinct ; (b)

Plate XVII.

SIBKAP: JEWELLEHY.

SIRKAP 81

en cabuchoH, of dull brown glass ; engraving indistinct.
Fractured.

27. 74 pieces of gold necklace. Bach piece is ]iollow
and pierced laterally for two strings (PI. XVII, 14).

28. Pieces of turquoise paste and crystal cut en
cabuclion and flat, in various designs. These as well
as the gems enumerated above, appear to have been
used for inlaying.

29. 21 silver coins of new types belonging to the
Parthian kings, Sasan, Sapedanes, and Satavastra and
the Kushan king, Kadphises II (?).

In the block of buildings opposite to E, on the west-
ern side of the High Street, a noteworthy featru'e is the
stQpa at the south-east comer, access to which is
provided on the east side bj' a double flight of seven
steps faced with squared kafijur masonry. The plinth
of this stiipa is composed of thick walls of stone radi-
ating from the middle with the interspaces between
them filled with debris. A pit sunk in the centre of
this core revealed a square chamber at a depth of
between seven and eight feet below the surface ; but,
unfortunately, the chamber had been broken into and
rifled in days long gone by.

The next building on the east side of the High Apsiual Temple
Street is the Great Apsidal Temple of the Buddhists to ■'^•
which I referred on p. 57. This temple, the plan of
which will be apparent from Plate XIV, faces to the
west. It stands in a spacious rectangular courtyard
with two raised platforms to right and left of the
entrance of the temple and rows of cham))ers for the
monks against the west compound wall. The temple

82 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

was built on the ruius of earlier buildings of tlie
Scytho-Parthian epoch, and with a view to providing
a level court and at the same time adding to the im-
pressiveness of the building, these earlier structures
were filled in with debris and a raised terrace was
thus created, access to which was provided by two
flights of steps on the street front. The platforms to
the right and left (C^ and C^) as one enters the court,
are the foundations of two small stupas, amid the fallen
masonry of which were found numerous stucco and
terracotta heads and other decorative objects which
had once served to adorn the edifices. One of them,
a stucco head of a Greek Satyr with pointed ears, is
illustrated in PI. XVI, 16.

The value of these terracottas and stuccos is all
the greater because their date can be fixed with ap-
proximate certainty. In the debris of the courtyard
both here and at other spots numerous coins were
unearthed belonging mainly to Kujula-Kadphises and
Hermasus, with a few of earlier date mingled with
them. From these it may be inferred that the build-
ing was already falling to decay in the latter part of
the 1st century A.D.

In the middle of the court stands the great Apsidal
Temple, and just as the court is raised above the level
of the street, so the temple itself is raised on a plinth
well above the level of the court. It consists of a
spacious nave^ with a porch in front and a circular

' Gen. Cunningham found in the nave the remains of some
colossal figures of burnt clay. The apse he took to bo a circular
well or underground room, diBtinct from the temple. C/. C.S.R.,
1863-4, pp. 127-8.

SIRKAP 83

apse behind, the whole surrounded by an ambulatory
passage {prachkshind), to which access was gained
from the front porch. The plan, in fact, is generally
similar to that of the Sudama cave in the Barabar
hills, 1 but in the latter case there was no porch in
front and no passage around the outside of the chambers.
In the middle of the apse, which measures 29 feet in
diameter, there must originally have been a stupa,
but treasure-seekers of some bygone age had utterly
destroyed it.

The exceptional depth (22 ft.) of the foundations of
the apse is explained partly by the excessive weight of
the superstructure, partly by the fact that they had to
be carried through the loose debris of earher structures,
until virgin soil was reached.

Near the old floor level is a curious horizontal break
in the masonry of the walls, which is now filled with
earth. This break marks the position where timbering,
which has since decayed, was originally inserted in the
stone work.

As to the elevation of this temple, it is impossible to
speak with certainty, but it may plausibly be surmised
that the pradalshmd passage was lit by windows pierced
in its outer walls, as was the case with the temple at
Jandial to be described presently, and that light into
the nave and apse was admitted through the western
doorway or a window above it. The roof appears to
have been of wood covered with earth, as is indicated
by the remains of timber and a large number of
iron nails, bolts, clamps, etc., found in the debris.

1 Cf. Furgusaon, Indian and Eastern Architecture, Vol. I, p. 130.

84 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

StOpa Court A. Of tlie buildings between the Apsidal Temple and
tlie northern wall of the City, there is none that calls
for particular notice except the large court with a
square stupa in its centre on the east side of the High
Street. This court differs from those previously de-
scribed both in being more spacious and in having a
number of living cells disposed aromid its four sides.
Possibly it was intended rather for public, and the
others rather for private worship. The stirpa in the
centre had been despoiled of its relics ; but the relic
chamber still contained, among other objects, some
broken pieces of what must once have been a singularly
beautiful crystal casket, the fine workmanship of which
suggests that it dates from the Maurya age. From the
fragments remaining it is evident that the casket, when
intact, would have been too large to go inside the
relic chamber ; and it must be inferred, therefore, that
it was enshrined there in its present broken condition.
The probability is that the relics deposited here were
taken from some much older monument and that the
crystal casket in which they had reposed having been
broken, the fragments of it were scrupulously pre-
served. That contact with the relics would invest
such fragments ^\'ith a special sanctity is clear from the
story of the Brahman Drona, who at the division of the
rehcs of the Buddha, received as his share the casket in
which the Mallas had placed them ; and it is proved
also by the discovery of similar fragments in stiipas at
Saiichi, Sarnath and elsewhere.

City C4ate. When their excavation is complete, the north gate

of Sirkap and the adjoining fortifications wUl pro-
bably afford as much interest as anything in the city.

SIRKAP 85

especiallj^ as this is the only example of a city gateway
of the early period that has yet heen brought to light
in India. At present, the digging is not sulliciently
advanced to make the disposition of the defences
entirely clear, but it already seems evident that the
main gateway must have been masked on its oiiter side
by a barbican, and that the barbican was pierced by
a second gateway set at right angles to the maui one.
To the west of the gate and against the inner face of
the wall is a range of su.bstantially built rooms,
which we may assume to have been occupied by the
guard, and on the opposite side of the High Street
are the remains of one of the ramps by which the
defei^ders could mount o]\ to the wall. Immediately
inside, as well as outside, the gateways the gradient
must always have been a steep one, and, as the level
of the ground inside the city rose, it became steeper
and steeper, necessitating the construction of a deep
drain to carry oi? the rush of water. During tlie
latest period of the city's occupation this northern
entrance appears to have l^een closed, and the
remains of various later walls and apparentlj- of stujias
also, can be seen in the actual gateway.

CHAPTER VII

Jandial

Temple. From Sirkap we now proceed due northwards
through the suburbs known as " Kachcha kot " to
the two lofty mounds in Jandial, between which the
ancient road to Hasan Abdal and Peshawar probably
ran. The mound to the east of the road, which then
rose to a height of some 45 feet above the surrounding
fields, was superficially examined by Gen. Cunningham
in 1863-64, and at a depth of 7 or 8 feet below the
surface he discovered some walls of a large building
which he surmised to be an ancient temple. Cruiously
enough, the General was quite correct in believing
that an ancient temple lay concealed in this mound,
but the walls which he himself unearthed belonged
to a comparatively late structure of the mediseval
epoch. The ancient temple which has now been laid
bare was foimd at a depth of 8 or 9 feet still lower
down.

The position of this temple is a very commanding
one, standing as it does on an artificial mound some
25 feet above the surrounding countr}' and facing
the north gate of the city of Sirkap. Its length,
including the projection in front of the portico to the
back wall, is 158 feet, and excluding the peristyle, a
88

PLATE XVIII.

JANDIAL TEMPLE: PLAN.

LlLi U LJ]:

SCALE

10 20 30 FEET

JANDIAL 87

little over 100 feet. Its plan is unlike that of any
temple yet known in India, but its resemblance to
the classical temples of Greece is striking (PL XVIII).
The ordinary Greek peripteral temple is surrounded
on all sides by a peristyle of colamns and contains a
pronaos or front porch, a nax}s or sanctuary, and,
at the rear, an opistJiodonios or back porch, known
to the Eomans as the posticum. In some temples,
such as the Parthenon at Athens or the Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus, there is an extra chamber
between the sanctuary and the back porch, which in
the case of the Parthenon was called the " Parthenon "
or chamber of the virgin goddess Athene. In the
newly excavated temple at Jandial the plan is
almost identically the same. In place of the usual
peristyle of columns is a wall pierced at frequent
intervals by large windows which admitted ample
light to the interior, but at the main or southern
entrance of the temple are two Ionic columns in antis,
i.e., between pilasters, which received the ends of the
architrave passing above them. Corresponding to
them on the further side of a spacious vestibule is
another pair of similar columns in antis. Then comes,
just as in Greek temples, the pronaos leading through
a broad doorway to the naos, while at the back of the
temple is another chamber corresponding to the opis-
thodomos. The only essential difference in plan between
this and a Greek temple is that, instead of an extra
chamber between the opisthodomos and the sanctuary,
■we have at .laiulial a solid mass of masonry, the founda-
tions of which are carried down over 20 feet below
the floor of the temple. From the depth of these

88 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

foundations it may safely be concluded that this mass
of masonry was intended to carry a lieavy super-
structure, which, apparently, rose in the form of a
tower to a height considerably greater than that of
the rest of the temple. Access to this tower was
provided by flights of broad steps ascending from the
opisthodomos at the rear of the temple and laid
parallel with the sides of the edifice. Two of these
flights still exist, and it may be assumed that there
were at least three more flights above them, probably
narrowing in width as they ascended above the roof
of the maiii building. The altitude of this tower
may be surmised to have been about 40 feet.

The masonry of the temple is mainly of lime-
stone and kanjiir, originally faced with plaster,
patches of which are still adhering to the walls at
various points.

The Ionic columns and pilasters, however, are
composed of massive Ijlocks of sandstone, the bases,
shafts and capitals being built up in separate drums
fixed together with square dowels let in the centre, as
was also the practice in Greek buildings (PL XIX).
In the construction of columns in Greek temples it
is well known that a fine joint was obtained by
gTinding down each drum in its bed. In the case
of the Jandial temple the same process seems to
have been followed, the beds of the drums being
roughly chiselled at the centre and a raised draft
left at the edge, which was afterwards ground
dowTi. The base mouldings of these columns are
not very subtle in their outline, but their capitals
with their "leaf and dart" and "reel and bead"

Plate XIX.

, : ' ■ . ^q

a^

^

Kl

, . e^

^^

Q

&i

JANDIAL 89

mouldings are of quite a pleasing form. In several
of the column and pilaster bases fractures were caused
in ancient days, probably by earthquakes, and
these fractures were repaired by cutting back the
broken stones to a straight edge and dowelling on a
separate piece by means of iron pins.

The wall mouldings in the news or sanctum
extend round the foot of all four walls, and it is
obvious from their existence along the north wall
that originally this wall stood free down to its base.
At a subsequent date, however, a platform about 3
ft. 6 in. high, was added on this side of the chamber.
The door leading from the fwnaos to the naos
appears to have been of wood bound with iron, of
which many fragments were found in the charred
debris strewn over the floor.

As to the superstructure of this temple, the archi-
trave, frieze and cornice were of wood and, no doubt,
of the Ionic order, in keeping with the Ionic character
of the columns, pilasters, and bold mouldings around
the base of the walls. Of wood, too, was the roof
construction ; but the roof could not have been of
the ridge type usual in Greek temples. Had the roof
been sloping, tiles must have been used on the outside,
and some of them must inevitably have been found
among the fallen debris. But there was not a trace
of anything on the floor of the temple, except the great
charred beams of wood, long iron nails, door hinges,
and a thick layer of clay mixed with masses of plaster
from the walls and charcoal. It may be concluded,
therefore, that, save for the tower in the middle of
the building, the roof of the temple was flat, like the

G

90 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

roofs of most oriental buildings, and composed of half
a dozen inches of earth laid over the timbers.

To what faith this unique temple was dedicated,
we can only sm'mise. That it was not Bu-ddhist,
seems patent from the total absence of any Buddhist
images or other relics among its debris, as well as from
its unusual plan, which is unlike that of any Buddhist
chapel that we know of. For similar reasons, also,
we must rule out the idea that it was Brahmanical
or Jaina. On the other hand, the lofty tower in the
middle of the building and immediately behind the
sanctum is very significant. My o'mi view is that this
tower was a zihurrat, tapering like a pyramid, and
ascended in just the same way as the zikurrats of
Mesopotamia ; and I infer from its presence, as well as
from the entire absence of images, that the temple
belonged to the Zoroastrian rehgion. On the summit of
the tower the faithful would offer their prayers in praise
of the Smi, Moon and all else which led their thoughts
to Nature's God ; and in the inner sanctuary would
stand the sacred fire altar with the dais at the side
from which the priests would feed it.^ We know that
the idea of the Assyrian zikurrat was familiar to the
Persians, and there is nothing more likely than that
they borrowed its design for their fire temples. Indeed,
the zihurrat tower at Firuzabad has been thought by

10/. Dr. J. J. Modi in the Times of India, Aug. 12, 191.5. I
myself previously took the view that the fire altar was placed on
the summit of the zilnirrat ; for we know that in Ach^menian times
the Persians set their fire altars in high places and raised on loftj'
eubstructures But Dr. Jlodi, the eminent Parsi scholar, doubts
■whether, amid the cosniopohtan surroundings of Taxila, the fire
altar could thus have been exposed to view.

■TANDIAL 91

many authorities actually to be a fire altar. More-
over, in favour of my hypothesis, it must be remem-
bered that this temple was constructed in the Scytho-
Parthian epoch, at a time when Zoroastrianism must
certainly have had a strong foothold at Taxila.

It is possible that this is the temple described by
Philostratus in his Lije of ApoUonius, in which he and
his companion Damis awaited the permission of the
king to enter the city. " They saw ", ho says, " a
temple in front of the wall, about 100 feet in length
and built of shell-hke stone. And in it was a shrine
which, considering that the temple was so large and
provided with a peristyle, was disproportionately small,
but nevertheless worthy of admiration ; for nailed
to each of its walls were brazen tablets on which
were portrayed the deeds of Porus and Alexander."
The words " in front of the wall " define the position
of the Jandial temple accurately, and the travellers
coming from the north, would natm'ally wait outside
the north gate of the city. The description, too, of
the inner sanctum as disproportionately small is signi-
ficant ; for this is a specially noticeable featiire of
the Jandial Temple. On the other hand, the temple
is considerably more than 100 ft. iu length,
unless we exclude the peristyle. The words ai'Sou
/<c/y;^yM2T0'j I take to mean, not " of 'porphyry ", as
they are translated by Conybeare and other editors, but
" of stone covered with stucco," shell having been used in
India from time immemorial for the making of stucco.

On the second of the two mounds, which lies a StiJpa.s and
little to the west of the one just described, ^as Monastery in
another building also of massive proportions and of

g2

92 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

about the same age as the Zoroastrian Temple ; but
here the superstructure has entirely vanished and there
remains nothing but a complex of foundation walls.
Further north, at a distance of about 400 yards from
the Temple were two more low luounds, designated A
and B, respectively, in the map (PI. XXIX). In the
latter, which lies to the east of the former, have been
unearthed the remains of a medium-sized stupa set in
the square courtyard of a monastery. The stupa is
of two periods, having originally been built in the
Scytho-Parthian epoch, and rebuilt probably in the
third century of our era. The earlier structure is
now standing to a height of only a little over 2 ft.
above the old floor level. It is square in plan,
with a projecting staircase on its southern face,
and a spacious relic chamber in the centre. Round
the base runs a moulding of the usual pattern, and
above is a series of square pilasters, six on each side
of the building, which were once surmounted by a
dei^til cornice. Near the foot of the steps on the
eastern side is a square plinth, similar to those by
the side of the shrine in block G in Sirkap.

Wlien this stiipa and the monastic quarters con-
nected with it had fallen to decay, another stupa and
a second series of cells were erected on a different plan
above their ruins. This later stupa has a circular
phnth and is constructed of limestone blocks in the
semi-ashlar style.

This monument was partly excavated some years
ago by Sir Alexander Cunningham, who appears to
have ]">enetrated as far as the later circular structure
only, which he describes as beinsf 40 feet in diameter

JANUIAL 93

and which he erroneously identifies with the stupa
erected by Asolca on the spot where Buddha had
made an offering of his head (p. 116). Prior to
Cunningham's excavation the rehc chamber had been
opened by the villager Nur, who, without being aware
of the fact, seems to have thrown out the relics
concealed within ; for in the spoil earth which he
had left at the side of the stupa, I found a small
silver casket lenticular in shape, containing a smaller
one of the same pattern in gold, and in the latter
a small fragment of bone. The larger vase in which
these caskets had no doubt reposed, had disappeared.

The second and smaller mound, which lies within Stupa A.
a hundred feet of stupa B, is also mentioned by Sir
Alexander Cunningham as having been opened by the
villagers and as containing a small ruined " temple."
In reality it is a stiipa of almost precisely the same
type as the earlier of the two just described, though
the masonry and ornamental details are somewhat
inferior. No relics were found in this stupa, nor did
the debris vield any minor antiquities of interest.

CHAPTEE VIII

SlESXJKH, LaLCHAK AND BaDALPUE

Position of To reach the city of Sirsukh we must now retrace

SiEsuKii. Q^^ steps by way of the Zoroastrian Temple and

proceed for about a mile and a half along the main
road to Khanpur. Sirsukh, as already stated/ is the
most modern of the three cities of Tasila, having
been founded by the Kushans, probably during the
reign of the great Emperor Kanishka. The mounds
which cover the ruins of its southern and eastern
ramparts, are still clearl}^ visible from the road along-
side the little Lundi nala, but the northern and western
walls have almost entirely vanished beneath the level
of the fields or been destroyed, and on these two sides
SiESUKH FORTi- it is Only mth difficulty that their line can now be
Fic-iTioKs. traced. Of the eastern fortifications a short section

has been exposed to view near the south-east corner of
the city, and it is these excavations which will be our
first objective. The wall, which is constructed of
rough rubble faced with neatly fitting limestone masonry
of the large diaper type, is 18 ft. 6 in. in thickness,
and is provided at the base both on its inner and outer
face ^^ath a heavy roll plinth, which was added after

1 P. G ante
94

SIRSUKH, LALCHAK AND BADALPUR 95

the wall Itself hacVbeen completed, in order apparently
to strengthen its loundatioiis. On the outer face
of the wall, and separated from each other by intervals
of about 90 feet, are semi-circular bastions, access
to the interior of which is provided by a narrow passage
carried through the thickness of the wall. Both the
bastions and the wall itself are firrjiished with loop-
holes, which are placed immediately above the plinth
referred to, at a height of rather less than five feet above
the old floor level. In the case of the bastions, these
loopholes widen towards the outside and are closed
on the outer face of the M^all with triangular arches which
give them a singularly western appearance. Beneath
them, in the interior of the bastions, is a hollow hori-
zontal chase in the wall, now filled with earth, which
marks where timbers were once let into the masonry.
Still lower down (on a level, that is to say, with the
old floor and opposite the entrance of the bastions) there
is, in some of them, an aperture which no doubt served
the purpose of a drain. The floors of the bastions
were composed of lime concrete containing a large
admixture of river sand.

If we compare these fortificatious with those of
Sirkap, we shall find that they differ from the latter
in several essential featiu'es. In the first place, they
are faced with the large diaper masonry characteristic
of the early Kushan period instead of the rubble masonry
characteristic of the Greek and Scythian periods.
Secondly, they are pierced with loopholes for the use
of defenders standing on the ground floor. Thirdly,
the bastions are semi-circular in plan instead of rectan-
gular, and are hollow within instead of solid. In the

96 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

case both of Sirkap and of Sirsukh it may be assumed
that the bastions were divided, like the bastions of
later Indian fortresses, into two or more storeys, and
that the upper storeys were hollow like the lowest
storey at Sirsukh. In both cases, too, it may be taken
for granted that the wall was provided with an upper
terrace and with lines of loopholes corresponding with
the terrace, from which the defenders could shoot
down on an attacking force.

Two other striking features in which the city of
Sirsukh differs from its predecessor, are its almost
rectangular plan and its situation in the open valley,
its builders having manifestly placed more reliance
on their artificial defences than on any natural
advantages which the hills might afford them.
Whether these new features were the outcome of
developments in military engineering in India itself, or
whether they were introduced by the foreign invaders,
the Kushans, from Central Asia or elsewhere, is a ques-
tion which we have not yet enough data, either
monumental or literary, for determining.

The minor finds from the bastions of Sirsukh
include copper coins of Hermseus and Kadphises I,
which were recovered on the floor level, an ivory mirror
handle and a deposit of 59 copper coins of Akbar the
Great, which were unearthed near the surface.
ToFKiAN. Ill thie interior of Sirsukh conditions are less favour-
able for digging than in Sirkap ; for, on the one hand,
nearly all the area enclosed within the walls is low-
lying and abundantly irrigated, with the result that
the ancient remains are buried deeper beneath the
alluvial soil than in Sirkap ; on the other hand, the

SIRSUKH, LALCHAK AND BADALPUR 97

few mounds which rise here and there among the culti-
vated fiekls aud which doubtless mark the sites of
relatively important structures, are now occupied
by graves and ziarats or modem villages, such as those
of Find Gakhra and Pindora, and, while any disturbance
of the graves or ziarats is out of the question, the
removal of the modern dwellings could only bo effected
at an inordinate cost. The oidy spot inside the city
where excavation has been started is between the villaoe

O

of Tofkian^ and the mound of Pindora, where dressed
stones and pottery had often been turned out by the
plough and where there was promise of ancient struc-
tures being found relatively near the surface. Here
a complex of buildings has been revealed which may
eventually prove of considerable interest. It com-
prises parts of two courts, a larger one to the west and
a smaller one to the east, with a series of chambers
disposed around them and a connecting passage
between. As to the extent ajid plan of this building,
all that can bo said at present, is that the principle
on which it is designed, namely, the principle of
the open court flanked by rows of chambers, is the

1 C/. C. S. E., Vol. II, p. 1:33, and Vol. V, p. 67. Cunningham de-
scribes the find in one of the mounds near this village of a copper
plate inscription dated in the year 78. But Cunningham himself
is in doubt as to whence precisely tho inscription came. In
one place ho says that its findspot is situated nearly a thou.sand
yards to tho south-west of Sirsukh, while in another he speaks of
its having come from the village of Tofkiaii inside the city, the
reason for tliese conflicting statements being that the copper plate
in question was discovered, not by Cunningham Iiimsclf, but by a
bhishli, named Nur, who gave different aecount.s of it at diSerent
times, and whose versions, therefore, are altogetlicr unreliable.
The remains which I have so far excavated near tlie village belong
to a much later date than this inscription.

98 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

same as that followed in the older structures of
Sirkap ; and, judging by the dimensions and structural
character of what has been exposed, it may be
surmised that the whole will prove to be an elaborate
and extensive building not unlike the one whii.h
I " have designated " the palace " in the earher
city. In one respect, however, there is a notice-
able difference between these two structures. In
contradistinction to the other buildings in that city,
the palace of Sirkap is provided with doorways leading
from the courtyard to the ground floor chambers,
as well as from one chamber to another ; here, in
Sirsukh, there is no evidence of any such openings in
the walls, and we are left to infer that access to the
gromid floor chambers was provided, as it was pro-
vided also in the ordinary houses of Sirkap, by steps
descending from the first floor rooms.

It remains to add that the wall stretching across
the north side of the court appears to be the founda-
tion of a raised plinth which probably supported a
pillared verandah ; that the masonry of the walls is
semi-ashlar above the ground level, but apjwoximates
to rubble below ; and that in some of the chambers
were found large earthenware jars of the type usually
employed for the storage of grain, oil or water, as well
as coins of Kadphises II, Kanishka and Vasudeva and
various other minor antiqiuties.

Lalciiak.

Buddhist stupa Between one and two hundi'ed yards from the
AKD jiuKAsTEKY. jigith-east comcr of Sirsukh and on the pathway to

SIRSUKH, LALCHAK AND BADALPUR 99

the village of Gfarhl Sayyadan was a group of four
small mounds, known locally as Lalchak. These
four mounds covered the remains of a Buddhist settle-
ment containing stQpas, shriues and monasteries,
which appear to date from about the fourth century
A.D. Most striking among them is the small monas-
tery in the northern part of the site (PL XX). It
is standing to a height of between seven and eight
feet above the ground level and contains a vestibule
in front, four chambers for habitation leading off from
it, and a small apartment on the west side, which pro-
bably served as a storeroom. The entrance is in the
middle of the southern side and is approached by a
flight of four stone steps. A second stairway, also of
stone, led from the western end of the vestibule to the
upper storey, which has now perished. No doubt the
walls of the upper storey were of stone, but to judge
by the large quantities of ashes, burnt earth, iron nails,
clamps and the like which were found in the debris,
the fittings and upper floor must have been of timber,
and the roof of the same material mth the usual covering
of earth. The date which I have assigned above to
this monastery, is based upon the style of its masonry ;
for no minor antiquities to which a definite date can
be assig-ned, were found associated with its foundations
or walls. On the other hand, in the debris a few feet
below the surface of the mound there came to light
four silver coins belonging to the White Huns, which
suggest, though they do not prove, that the building
had been burnt out and buried from view before the
sixth or seventh century of our era. Indeed, it is
quite possible that it was not in occupation for more

loo A GUIDE TO TAXILA

than a few decades ; for, though the stairway is worn
and smoothed by the passage of many feet, half a
century would be quite enough time to account for this.
Among the minor antiquities recovered from this
site were an ornamental tris'Fda and rosettes of copper,
a bronze finger ring, iron pickaxe and arrow-head,
and a necklace of cornelian, garnet, calcedony, crystal,
malachite, lapis-lazuli, gold, pearl, and shell beads.
SiuPA I. To the south-east of the monastery just described
and about forty yards distant from it is a stupa standing
in the middle of a rectangular compound. ^ It is square
in plan with a broad flight of steps on its northern
side. The pilasters which adorn the plinth are of the
Corinthian order but stunted and decadent, and
surmounted, as is usual in later structures, by Hindu
brackets.

Inside the court of this stupa and to the right and left
of the entrance were the remains of two small chapels,
of which the one to the east comprised a square sanctum
for the image with a portico in front, paved with stone
slabs. What was left of the other was too fragmentary
to be made out with certainty. The design no less
than the construction of this and the following building
indicates that they were coeval with the neighbouring
monastery described above, and it is therefore of
interest to record tha.t a pit sunk in the rubble core
of this stupa yielded 140 tokens and coins of various
issues, including some of the city of Taxila, others
of Antialcidas, Kadphises II, Indo-Sasanian Kings
and Samantadeva. It is very unlikely that these

• This compound as well as the two small chapels mcntionetl
below and Stupa II, have been covered in again.

I'LATK XX.

5

S

SIRSUKH, LALCHAK AND BADALPUE 101

coins, Ijang haphazard in the earth, were intentionally
deposited there when the stiipa was erected. Their
presence may be accounted for on the assumption that
the debris used for the core of the stupa was brought
from one of the ancient city sites where such coins are
found in abundance.

Between Stupa I and the monastery were the remains Stupa IL
of a second stupa, of which nothing was left standing
except its semi-ashlar foundations. Fortimately, the
relic-deposit in the centre of these foundations had not
been disturbed. The earthenware pot in which it
reposed had been brols:en by the weight of the
debris above, but the deposit itself was intact and
proved to consist of thirty beads of gold, garnet, ruby,
jasper and shell. The relic bone, which had presum-
ably accompanied them, had crumbled to dust.

Badalpur.

Of the great stiipa of Badalpur, near the village
of Bhera, there is little that need be said. In its
construction, and doulitless also in its design, it re-
sembled the Bhallar and Kunala stupas, and must have
been one of the most imposing monuments at Taxila ;
but it has suffered iiiuch fiom the spoliation wrought
by treasure seekers in the past, and apart from its
massive plinth, which measures over 80 ft. in length
by 20 in. height, there is little enough left of its former
grandeur. On the north and soutli sides of the stupa
are two rows of chambers with narrow verandahs in
front, which served as chapels for images , and about
70 yds. to the east are the buried remains of a spacious
monastery.

102 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

The style of the masonry coupled with the finds of
coins, which belonged almost exclusively to the Kushan
Kings Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva. betoken
the latter half of the third century A.D. as the proba-
ble date when these structures were erected.

CHAPTER IX

MOHKA MORADU, JaULIAN, ETC.

Visitors to Taxila who do not wish to make the
round of all the excavations, will find it convenient to
omit the remains at Tofkiau, Lalchak and Badalpur,
which are of secondary interest only, and to proceed
direct from the fortifications of Sirsukh to the two
groups of Buddhist buildings at Mohra Moradu and
Jauliaii, which in many respects are the best preserved
and the most striking monuments of their kind in the Position ojc
North-West of India. The first of these two groups Mohra Moradu.
lies about a mile to the south-east of the city of Sirsukh
and is situated in a small glen at the back of the village
of Mohra Moradu. Here, as one goes eastward, the
slopes begin to be noticeably greener ; for the wild
oUve and sonattJia shrub grow freely among the rocks,
and the rugged gorge of Meri, through which the path-
v.-ay ascends to the monuments, is singularly picturesque.
Iu3' ^ the glen — or it might better perhaps be termed a
cup in the hills — an oblong terrace was constructed
by the Buddhist builders, and side by side on this
terrace was erected a stupa and a monastery of com-
manding size, the former at its western, the latter
at its eastern end. When iirst discovered, both

103

104 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

monastery and stupa were buried in a deep accu-
mulation of detritus from the surrounding hills, the
only part of the structures visible to the eye being
about 5 feet of the ruined dome of the stiipa, which in
years gone by had been cut in twain by treasure hunters
in search of the relics and, like the Dharmarajika stupa,
sadly damaged in the process. Beneath this accu-
mulation, however, both buildings proved to be re-
markably well preserved, standing actually to a height
of between fifteen and twenty feet and still retaining
many admirably executed reliefs in stucco on their
walls (PI. XXI).
Stupa I. In point of architectural design there is nothing
specially remarkable about this stupa, nothing to dis-
tinguish it from other memorials of a like character
which were erected in the third and fourth centuries
of our era. Thanks, however, to its protected position
in the hills and other fortunate circumstances, many of
the stucco reliefs with which its walls were decorated and
which in other cases have almost entirely perished, are
here tolerably well preserved ; and, though their colour-
ing has mostly disappeared, they suffice to give us a
much better idea than we could otherwise have got, of
how these monmnents looked when they first emerged
from the hands of their bvailders. Apparently, the whole
surface of the structure up to the top of the drum was
covered with figures ; for there are groups of Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas, both standing and seated, in the
bays between the pilasters (PI. XXII), and on
the face of the pilasters themselves are series of
Buddhas ranged one above the other. On the drum,
again, above the berm the same figures are repeated

Plate XXI.

o

c

:^

6^

MOHRA MORADU, JAULIaS, ETC. 105

on a smaller scale, and on each side of the steps was
a continuous row of figures disposed in decreasing sizes
beneath the raking cornice, just as they might have
been in the pedimental groups of a classical temple.
In point alike of style and technique the standard
attained by the artists who modelled these reliefs is a
high one. What strikes one most, perhaps, about the
figures and particularly about those in the bays on the
south side of the plinth, is their life and movement
combined with their dignified composure. This life and
movement is specially evident in some of the attendant
Bodhisattvas, the swish of whose robes, with the limbs
delicately contoured beneath them, is wonderfully
true and convincing. Delicate, too, and singularly
effective are the hovering figures which emerge from
the background to the sides of the Buddhas, as if they
wore emerging from the clouds. Yet another point that
arrests the attention, is the highly successful minner
of portraying the folds of the drapery, the technical
treatment of v.'liich accords with the best Hellenistic
traditions and demonstrates most accurate observation
on the part of the artists. ^

Among the many detached heads, found round the
base of this stupa and now preserved in the local
museum are several which are in an unusually good
state of preservation. Over the surface is a fine slip
apparently applied before the final definition was
given to the features. The face is left white, but the

' In Gireek sculpture of the best period the mass of the material
was chiselled away and the folds left, as it were, in relief ; in Roman
and decadent Greek work labour was saved at the expense of truth
by merely grooving out the folds from the mass of the material.

H

106 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

lips, edges of nostrils, edges and folds of eye-lids, edge
of hair, folds of neck and ear-lobes are picked out in
red, and the hair itself is coloured grey black.

Stupa II. On the south side of the steps of this stupa is a

smaller monument of the same character. It is of the
same date and constructed and decorated in much the
same manner as the larger edifice, but only a few
fragments of the stucco reliefs have survived on the
south and west sides.

Monastery The monastery connected with these stupas is as
interesting as the stupas themselves. In addition to
the usual open rectangular court it comprises also
several spacious chambers at the eastern side. The
entrance to the rectangular court is on the north and
is approached by a broad flight of steps with a landing
at the top leading into a small portico. On the west
wall of the portico is an arched niche containing a
remarkably well preserved group of figoires in high
relief, namely, Buddha in the centre and four attendant
worshippers on either side.

Passing from the portico into the interior of the
monastery we find ourselves in a spacious court with
27 cells ranged on its four sides. In the middle of
the court is a depression about two feet deep with
steps descending into it on each of its four sides,
and at its south-east corner, a square platform which
once supported the walls of a chamber. Round
about this depression and at intervals of five feet
from each other, is a series of stone slabs, the upper
surface of which is level with the rest of the court.
These slabs acted as bases to the pillars of a broad

Plate KXII.

^
O

MOHRA MORADU, JAULIAN, ETC. 107

verandah which was constructed mainly of wood/ and
which besides shading the fronts of the ground-floor cells
served also to provide comimmication with the cells on
the upper storey. The eaves of the verandah no doubt
projected beyond the pillars which supported it, so as
to discharge the rain water into the depression in
the middle of the court, whence it could be carried off
by a covered drain. The height of the lower storey
was about twelve feet, as is proved by the ledge and
row of socket holes, evidently intended for the timbers
of the first floor, in the back walls of the cells on the
south side. Access to the upper floor was obtained,
not as might have been expected, near the entrance
portico, but by way of two flights of steps in one of the
cells on the south side of the building. On the western
and southern sides of the court all the cells are provided
with windows ; on the northern side windows were not,
perhaps, so necessary, as the light admitted through
the cell doors would be brighter ; and on the eastern
side they were impracticable, inasmuch as there were
other chambers at the back of the cells. The windows,
placed at a height of about eight feet from the ground,
are somewhat narrower at the top than at the bottom,
and contract considerably towards the outside. lu
some of the cells, but not in all, there are small
niches, apparently for lamps, hke those in the monastery
at Lalchak and in the one adjoining the Kunala stupa.
The interiors of the cells occupied by the monks
were covered, like the rest of the monastery, with a
coating of plaster, but were probably destitute of any

' The wood construction is evidenced by the mass of charcoal,
iron fittings, etc., found in the debris.

h2

108 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

decoration. In the verandahs, on the other hand,
the wall appears to have been relieved with colours
and the wood work was no donbt carved and painted
or gilded, while the courtyard was further beautified
by effigies of the Buddha of superhuman size set on
pedestals in front of the cells, or by groups of sacred
fig-ures, in little niches in the walls. Of the larger
effigies, remains of seven have survived round about
the quadrangle, but only three of these are even toler-
ably well preserved. In each of these cases there is a
particular interest attaching to the smaller reliefs on
the front of the pedestals from the fact that they
illustrate the dresses worn by lay-worshippers at the
time they were set up, namely, in the fourth or fifth
century A.D. Of the niches, the best preserved is the
one in front of cell 4 on the left side of the monastery,
the group in which depicts the Buddha seated in the
dhydna-mudrd with attendant figtires to the right and
left.

A still more valuable discovery than these statues
or reliefs, is a stupa, almost complete in every detail,
which was found inside cell No. 9 on the left side of
the monastery (PI. XXIII). It is standing to a height
of twelve feet and is circular in plan, its plinth being
divided into five tiers, with elephants and Atlantes
alternating in the lowest tier, and Buddhas seated in
niches alternating with pilasters in the tiers above.
The core of the stupa is of kaiijur, and the mouldings
and decorations are of stucco once decorated with
colours, viz., crimson, blue and yellow, traces of which
are still visible. The umbrella was constructed in
sections threaded on to a central shaft of iron, but

Plate XXIII.

MdHUA m(ii;aiju monastehy: stufa in cell.

MOHRA MORADU, JAULIAN, ETC. lOl*

in the course of ages this shaft had decayed, and the
umbrella was found lying at the side of the stupa.
The edges of the umbrellas are pierced with holes
intended apparently for streamers or garlands. This
stupa is, I believe, the most perfect one of its kind yet
discovered in Northern India, and as such possesses a
very exceptional antiquarian value.

The chambers on the eastern side of the Monastery
are reached through a doorway at the back of one of
the cells. As originally designed, there were four
chambers, the largest of which, to the north, is distin-
guished by the presence of four kanjur columns in the
centre, and presumably served as the " conference
hall " of the commmiity. To what use the other
three chambers were intended to be put, there are not
yet sufficient data for determining, but it may be
surmised that one of them, probably the middle one,
was used as a refectory. At a later date — that is,
some two centuries after the building of the monastery
— this part of it was considerably altered by adding
two small closets in the middle chamber and by raising
the floor of the chamber in the south-east corner by
some eight feet and constructing therein a reservoir,
meant apparently for a bath, with a water channel
leading down into the middle chamber. The two
closets referred to are of unusual form, one being a
sort of small rotunda with an entrance on its western
side, the other rectangular in plan with raised benches
on two of its sides. Iji appearance the rotunda looks
more like a well than anything else ; but its walla
are carried down no deeper than the foundations of
the monastery, and beneath them there is nothing

110 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

but solid rock. Possibly this and the other closet
adjoining formed part of the baths of the monastery
and served as hot and cold chambers.

It remains to add that the original walls of this
monastery are in a rather late variety of the large
diaper style and may be assigned both on this and
other evidence to about the close of the 2nd -century
A.D. The additions and repairs Avere in the late
semi-ashlar style and were executed, as I have
indicated above, about two hundred years later. Many
coins of the Kushan kings, Huvishka and Vasudeva,
were discovered on the floor of the monastery. Among
other minor antiquities found here was one remarkably
fine Gandhara statue of the Bodhisattva Gautama (?)
in almost perfect preservation (PL XXIV), several
terracotta images of the Buddha which had fallen
from the niches in the court, and a massive steatite seal
of the Gupta period belonging to one Harischandra.

JauliaS.
The other group of Buddhist remains is perched
on the top of a hill some 300 feet in height and situated
rather less than a mile north-east of Mohra Moradu
and about half that distance from the village of Jauhan.
To reach this hill from Mohra Moradu the visitor has
the choice of two routes : either he may follow the
narrow track which leads eastward from the
Mohra Moradu monastery, or he can retrace his steps
as far as the hamlet of Mohra Moradu and thence follow
the longer path across the fields. In the former case
the walk will take about 25, in the latter about 40
minutes.

Plate XXIV.

MOHUA MO R ALU MONASTERY: GANDHAIiA
SCULP TUBE.

MOHRA MORADU, JAULIAN, ETC. Ill

Tlie monuments in tlie Jauliaii group are more
highly ornanicutcd and in a still better state of preser-
vation than those at Mohra Moradu ; for many of them
had only just been erected and the rest but newly
repaired and redecorated, when they were overtaken
by the catastrophe which resulted in their burial.
On the other hand, the decorations of these buildings
at Jauliaii is not of so high a quality as those at Mohra,
Moradu. There is less breadth in the treatment of the
rehefs, less vitality and movement in the figures, less
subtlety in their modelling, and less delicacy in their
teclmique. We shall see presently that there are good
reasons for believing that the destruction of the
Buddhist settlement at Jauliaii took place in the fifth
century A.D. — at the hands, perhaps, of the invading
Huns ; and, if this date is correct, then the decorations
on the walls of the stupas can hardly be ascribed to a
date earlier than about 400 A.D. The reliefs at Mohra
Moradu may possibly date from a few decades earlier,
but it is probable that the destruction of both these
settlements was due to one and the same cause.

Up to the time of writing the position of the original Stupa Courts.
entrance into the stijpa couits has not been definitely
ascertained, but we may assume that it was at the south-
east corner of the Court. At present the visitor enters
by way of one of the chapels in the north-west corner
and finds himself in a large open Cjuadranglc with
ranges of small cells intended for cult images
along its sides and five moderate sized stupas, now
roofed over for the sake of protection but formerly
standing exposed in the open (PI. XXVI). All these
stupas have lost their domes and cylindrical drums,

112 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

but their square bases are still adorned with crowds of
elaborate stucco reliefs disposed along their walls in
horizontal tiers, and are well worthy of attention.
Observe, in particular, the Buddha or Bodhisattva
images ensconced in niches with attendants at their
sides, and the rows of elephants, lions, or Atlantes
in a variety of quaint and distorted postures sup-
porting the superstructure above them ; and observe,
also, on Stupa D^ the Kharoshthi inscriptions which
give the titles of the images and the names of their
donors. Kharoshthi records of any kind are rare in
India, and these are the first that have been found
engraved on stucco reliefs.

All the buildings in this lower court were erected
at the time when the Main Stupa was repaired and
redecorated in the dth or 5th century A. D., and it
will be noticed that the stonework employed in their
construction is the late semi-ashlar variety. The
original fabric of the main stiipa itseli, which stands in
the middle of the upper court, probably dates from
Kushan times, but the masonry now visible as well as
the stucco decoration dates from two centuries later.
On its northern face, a httle to the left of the project-
ing steps, is a seated Buddha figm'e with a circular
hole at the navel and an ex-voto inscription in
Kharoshthi beneath, recording that it was the gift of
one Eudhamitra, who " delighted in the law " (dliarma).
The hole at tne navel was intended for a suppliant to
place his finger in when offering prayers against certain
bodily ailments. Among the numerous small and richly
decorated stupas which are ranged in rows around
the Main Edifice, a special interest attaches to the one

PLATE XXV

aXCAVATIONS AT JAULIAN: PLAN.

^ I

■^

^
H

^

•lAXX Hj-vij

MOHRA MORADU, JAULIAN, ETC. 113

on the south side which is numbered A" in the plan.
The relic chamber in this structure was exceptionally
tall and narrow, and in it was a miniature stupa of
very remarkable character (PI. XIII b). It stands 3 ft.
8 in. high and is modelled out of hard lime plaster
finished with blue and crimson paint and bejewelled
round the dome with gems of garnet, carnelian, lapis-
lazuli, aquamarine, ruby, agate, amethyst and crystal,
cut in numerous shapes and arranged in a variety of
simple patterns. The workmanship of this curious
relic casket is undeniably coarse and barbaric, but
there is a certain quaint charm in its design as well as
in the bright and gaudy coloiuing of the inlaid gems.
Down the body of the miniatur'e stupa runs a hollow-
shaft, at the bottom of which were the relics themselves,
hidden within a smaller copper-gilt receptacle. Auotlier
stupa iu the same court which also merits notice, is
A^-^ on the west side of the main structure. On it are
engraved several more donative inscriptions in Kha-
roshthi characters.

We shall now return to the lower court and make Monastery.
our Vi'ay to the monastery on its eastern side. Just
outside and to the left hand of the entrance is a small
chapel containing a singularly beautiful group of stucco
figures (PL XXVII). In the centre is seated the
Buddha in the attitude of meditation (dhydna-mudrd),
with a standing Buddha to his right and left and two
attendant figures behind. Of the latter, the one to the
left carries the fl)'-whisk (cJiaurl), the other is the
Vajrapani, holding the thunderbolt iu his left hand.
On the central image are still many traces of the red
and black paint and of the gold leaf with which it, and

114 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

doubtless the other figures also, were once bedecked.
A second group of figures to the left of this niche is
unfortunately much damaged, but the realistic basket
of fruits and flowers borne by one of the attendants is
deserving of notice.

In plan and elevation, the monastery at JauliaS
though slightly smaller, closely resembled the one at
Mohra Moradu. There was the same open quadrangle
with ranges of cells on its four sides ; the same square
depression in the middle of the quadrangle ; the same
small chamber, perhaps a bath-room, in the corner of
the latter ; the same verandah carried on wooden
pillars ; the same niches for images in front of the
cells ; the same kind of windows and lamp-niches
inside them and the same stairway in one of the cells
ascending to the upper storey. But in a few parti-
culars this monastery helps to supplement the infor-
mation acquired on the other site. Thus, some of the
doorways of the cells are still intact, and we observe
that they are much lower than might have been ex-
pected. It should be added, however, that the existing
doorways belong to the later repair of the building,
and it may have been that the original entrances of
the Kushan period were higher. Again, on the northern
side of the court, the cell immediately to the left of
the stairway must have served as a shrine, since the
remains of several burnt clay images, adorned with
paint and gilding, were found inside it. The entrance
of this particular cell is reheved by bands of floral
designs roughly executed, like the images inside, in
burnt clay ; but in both cases the burning of the clay
seems to have been caused by the general conflagra-

n.ATE XXVII.

[*: ^%

JAULIAN: 1-lELlEF IN NIVHK.

MOHKA MORADU, JAULIAS, ETC. 115

tion in which the whole monastery was involved during
the fifth century A.D. Other evidences of this fire
were also observable in the charred condition of floors
and walls and in masses of charcoal and burnt timbers
found in the cells and courtyard. That it took place
during the fifth century is to be inferred both from
the style of the sculptures, none of which can be referred
to a later date than this, and from various minor
antiquities found in the cells, among which was a
burnt carnelian seal engraved with the words Sri
Kulcsvaraddsl in Brahmi characters of the Gupta
age, and a birch bark manuscript also in Brahmi of
the same period. The latter, which is the first
manuscript of the kind to be discovered in any exca-
vation in India, is unfortunately sadly damaged by
fire, but it is hoped that its partial decipherment may
not prove impossible. Among the other antiquities
found in the monastery were over 200 coins, many
iron nails, hinges, and other implements, copper orna-
ments, terracottas and numerous potteries, including
the several large store jars that are still to be seen in
some of the cells.

Bhallae Stupa.

Another large and important group of Buddhist
monuments now Ijcing excavated is at the Bhallar
Stupa, to which reference has been made on p. 60.
They occupy a commanding position on the last
spur of the Sarda hill, which bounds the Haro
Valley on the north, and are situated at the side of
the Havelian Railway, about 5 miles from Saraikala

116 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

and half a mile north of the Haro river (PL XXVIII).

The most convenient way to reach it is by means of a
trolley, which can sometimes be obtained from the
Sarai-kala Railway Station. The ontward journey,
which is mainly down hill, takes about 40 minutes,
the return journey over an hour.

According to Hsiian Tsang,^ the Bhallar Stupa
was originally built by the Emperor Asoka to commem-
orate the spot where Buddha in a previous existence ^
had made an offering of his head, but if ever Asoka
erected a monument here, no trace of it is now dis-
coverable. The existing stupa dates back no further
than the third or fourth century of our era. Like
the Kunala stiipa on the opposite side of the valley,
it stood on a lofty oblong base, ascended on its eastern
side by a broad flight of steps. The body of the
superstructure above this base, consisted, as usual, of
a drrmi and dome surmounted by one or more um-
brellas. The drum, which is strikingly high in pro-
portion to the diameter of the monument, was divided
into six or seven tiers, diminishing in size from the
bottom upwards and decorated with rows of decadent
Corinthian pilasters, friezes and dentil cornices. The
northern half of the stiipa has entirely fallen and on
this side the relic chamber, which was set near the top
of the drum, is now exposed to view. In the court-

1 Cf. Beal, BuddJdst Records of the Western World, Vol. I, p. 138

2 Cf. Div. XXII, pp. 311 — 328. In that particular existence
the Bodliisattva was Chandraprabha, and Taxila was the city
of Bhadra^ila, uver which ho ruKd. On Ih ■ tpot wheie the
Bhallar Stujia now stands, there may once have been a Stiipa of a
hero Chandiapiabha, whose cult was subsequently absorbed into
Buddhism.

Plate XXVIII.

MOHEA MORADU, JAULIAN, ETC. 117

yard of the stupa numerous chapels and other monu-
ments are now being excavated, and the massive walls
of a spacious monastery are just coming to light to
the east of the comtyard ; but it would be premature
to speak of these until the digging is more advanced.
It was in this monastery, says Hsiian Tsang, that
Kumaralabdha, the founder of the Sautrantika school,
composed his treatises, and in the courtyard of the
stupa that a miracle took place not long before his
time. A woman aiHicted with leprosy came to worship
at the stupa, and, finding the court all covered with
litter and dirty, she proceeded to cleanse it and to
scatter flowers around the building. Thereupon her
leprosy left her and her beauty was restored.

Bhie Mound.

In concluding this description of the ancient monu-
ments of Taxila, it remains to mention a few finds
made in the Eliir Mound — the earliest of the throe
city sites. In this city digging operations have hitherto
been limited to temporary trial trenches and pits,
which have been sunk at various points, mainly tov/ards
the northern end of the site, and then filled in again.
The remains thus disclosed comprise chambers of
rough rubble masonry, potteries, terracotta figurines of
primitive workmanship, coins and jewellery : all, so far
as they can be dated, belonging to the Maurya epoch.
The most noteworthy of these finds was a small treasure
unearthed in the compound of the Archaeological
Bungalow. It consists of IGO punch-marked corns
of debased silver, a very fine gold coin of Diodotu.s

118 A GUIDE TO TAXILA

struck in the name of Antiochus II of Syria, a gold
bangle, a gold pendant in the form of a tiger claw, a
small gold reliquary and several other pieces of gold
or silver jewellery, besides a large number of pearls,
amethysts, garnets, corals and other stones. The gold
pendant and the little reliquary are especially beautiful
examples of the goldsmith's craft, the filigree design
applied to their surface being remarkably delicate and
refined. The coin of Antiochus and the local punch-
marked coins point to the latter half of the 3rd cen-
tury B.C. as the time when this jewellery was hidden
in the ground, and the gold claw and the reliquary
(PI. XVI, 12, 13 and 14), which are more worn than the
other pieces, are probably half a century or so earlier.
By the side of the jewellery was found what appears
to be a goldsmith's crucible with a few early Brahmi
characters stamped on its sides, and, in another chamber
a narrow well filled with earthenware jars, all of which
were turned upside down and empty. This well was
excavated to a depth of some 18 feet, and about 50
vases were recovered. All these remains belong to
the period of the Mamya occupation, when the city
of Taxila was undoubtedly situated on the Bhir Mound.
As these remains, however, were quite near the surface,
and as there is an artificial accumulation some 15 or
20 feet deep below them, there is every hope that
remains of a much earlier period may be found in the
lower strata.

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH ABBREVIATIONS

c.

I.

I.

c.

s.

R.

E

I.

I.

A.

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A.

J.

R.

A.

S..

A. S. R. . . ArelKcnlogical Survey of India, Reports of

the Director General (Sir Jolm Marshall),
Parts I and II from 1902.

Corpus Itiacriptioniim Inclicaritm.

Archcenlofjical Survey of India, Reports of
Sir Alex. Cunningham.

Epigraphia Indica.

Indian Antie^uary.

Journal Asiatique.

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Beal, Samuel. — See Hiucn Thsang.

Cunningham, Sik Alex. — Coins of Alexander's successors in the
East, the Greeks and Indo-Scythians, Part I. — The Greeks of
Baktriana, Ariana and India ; London, 1869. Coi^is of
Ancient India from the earliest times to the seventh century
A.D. ; London, 1891. Coins of Mediaeval India from the
seventh century dotvn to the Muhammadan conquests ; London,
1894. Arch. Surv. Reports (C. S. 11.), Vols. I, II, V ; Simla,
Calcutta, 1871, 1875.

Fa Hien. — A record of Buddhist kingdoms being an account of
his travels in India, arul Ceylon (A.D. 390-414). Trans, and
annot. by James Leggo ; Oxford, 1886.

Feroitsson, Sie J. — History of Indian and Eastern Architecture ;
2nd ed., London, 1910.

FoucHER, Alfred. — L'Art greco-bouddhique du Oandhlra ;
Paris, 1905 ; Etude sur Vlconographie bouddhique de I'lnde ;
Paris, 1900, 1905.

Gardner, Percy. — The Coins of Greek and Scythic kings of
Bactria and India in the British Museum ; Loudon, 1886.
119

120 SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH ABBREVIATIONS

Gednwedel, Prop. A. — Buddhistische Kunst in Indien ; 2n^i
ed., Berlin, 1900. English trans, by A. C. Gibson an'l
J. Burgess ; London, 1901.

HiUEN Thsang (Hsuan Tsang). — Si-iju-Ia, Buddhist records
of the Western World. Trcans. by Samuel Beal, Vols,
III ; London, 1S8L

Jdtaica or Stories of the BuddM's former births : Engl, trans,
ed. by E. B. Cowel! ; Vols. I-VII ; Cambridge, 1895-1907.

Maeshall, iSib John. — Annual Reports of the Director General
of Archceologi/ ; Calcutta, 1912-13, Pts. I and II ; 1913-14,
Pt. I ; 1914-15, Pts. I and II ; 1915-16, Pts. I and II.

McCeindle, J. W. — Ancient India as described by Megasthenes
and Arrian (From the Indian Antiquaiy) ; Calcutta,
Bombay, London, 1877. The Invasion of India by
Alexander the Great as described by Arrian, Q. Gurlius,
Diodorus, Plutarch and Justin ; Westminister, 1896.
Ancient India as described in classical literature, being a
collection of Greek and Latin texts relating to India extracted
from Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Pliny, Aelian,
Philostratus, etc ; Westminister, 1901.

PniLOSTKATUs.— y;^e Life of Apollonius of Tyana, with an
EngUsh translation by P. C. Conybearc ; New York, 1912.

Rapson, E. J.— Ancient India ; Cambridge, 1914.

Smith, Yi^cx:^-!.— Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum,
Ciilcutlu ; 1906. Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India'
2nd ed. ; Oxford, 1909. A history of fine Art in hwlia and
Ceylon ; Oxford, 1911. Early History of India \= E H II
3rd Ed. ; Oxford, 1914. L i^. i-i

Whitehead, R. B.~Catalogue of coins in the Punjab Museum
Lahore ; Oxford, 1914.

Watters, TaoMAS.~On Yuan Chwang's travels in India Vols
I and II ; London, 1904-05.

Wilson, H. K.—Ariana Antiqua ; London, 1841.

Bra No 4752 E 17

PLATE XXIX.

HiuoiiMCooRAPMio AT tmb Sumvct o* Inou Omen. Caloutta.

GLOSSAEY

AcEOPOLis.— ((7r.=high city). The citadel or highest part of a
Greek city, usually situated on an eminence commanding
the rest of the to^vn.

Ant^. — Pilasters terminating the side walls of a classic building.

Apse. — The termination of a building, circular, multangular

or semi-circular in plan, with a domical or vaulted roof.

The term was first applied to a Roman basilica.

Aechitrave. — The beam or lowest division of the entablature,
which rests immediately on the column.

Ashlar. — Squared stonework in regular courses, in contra-
distinction to rubble work.

Atlantes. — Sculptured figures of men used in place of columns
01 pilasters, supjiorting or seeming to support a mass above
them. Female figures used for the same purpose are known

as Caryatides.

Baltjster. — A small pillar supporting a handrail or coping,
the whole being called a balustrade.

Barbican. — An outwork intended to defend the entrance to a
castle or fortified town.

Bodhisattva. — See page 39, footnote 2.

Canthabus. — A two-handled drinking cup of Greek pattern.

Cavetto. — A small concave moulding.

Coring. — The capping of a wall or balustrade.

Corbel.— A block projecting from a wall to support a superin-
cvimbent weight.

Cornice. — In Greek architecture, the highest part of the enta-
blature resting on the frieze ; any moulded projection which
121

122 GLOSSARY

crowns the part to which it is afi&xed. Baking cornice^
a cornice inclining from the horizontal.

Cyma. — A moulding of which the profile is a double curve,
concave and convex. Cyma Eecta, in which the concave
curve surmounts the convex ; cyma re versa, in which the
convex surmounts the concave.

Dado. — The lower part of a wall, when decorated separately.
Dentil. — Tooth-like ornamental blocks in Ionic and Corinthian
cornices.

DiAPEK. — A small pattern repeated continuously over a wall
surface. Diaper masonry, a distinctive kind of masonry
illustrated on Plate V.

En CABtJCHON. — In the form of a carbuncle, i.e., with a convex
upper surface, in contradistinction to that of a garnet,
which is facetted.

Entablature. — In classical architecture, that portion of a
structure which is supported by the columns, and con-
sists of the architrave, frieze and cornice.

Entasis. — A slight swelling in the shaft of a column.

Fillet. — A small flat moulding having the appearance of a
narrow band, generally used to separate curvilinear mould-
ings.

Ekieze. — That part of the entablature which is between the
architrave and cornice, usually enriched with figures or
other ornaments.

Feoktality. — A term applied to archaic statues, which are
so rigidly and formally fashioned, that an imaginary plane
drawn through the top of the head, nose, backbone, breast-
bone and navel, divides the figure into two perfectly sym-
metrical halves.

Glyptic. — Pertaining to the art of engraving.

Intaglio. — An engraved figure sunk into the face of a gem :
the reverse of a cameo, which is in relief.

Jatak.^, The. — A Pali work containing 550 stories about the
previous births of Gautama Buddha, who, according to
the Buddhist belief, had been born in all created forms,
as man, god and animal, before he ai'.peared on earth as
the son of Suddhodana.

GLOSSARY 123

KANjiTp.._The local name of a soft limestone.
KhAroshthI.— A script derived from Aramaic ; it was in vogue

in the North- West of India between B.C. 300 and 400 A.D.
Mahabharata.— The great Sanskrit Epic of India, the theme

of which IS the war between the sons of Kuru and the

sons of Pandu. It oonsiats of 18 books and ia commonly

attributed to the sage Vyasa.
Nandipada.— ' Footprint of Nandi,' a device frequently found

on ancient coins and supposed to represent the footprint

of a bull.

Ogee.— A moulding or arch, of which the curve resembles the
cyma reversa (q.v.).

Pediment. — The triangular termination of the roof of a classic

temple; in Gothic architecture called the "gable."
Peeipteral. — An edifice surrounded by a range of columns.
Peristyle. — A range of columns surrounding a court or temple.
Pilaster. — A square pillar projecting from a wall.

Pkadak.shina. — A ceremonial act performed by walking round
a stiipa or other sacred edifice from left to right.

Prakrit. — The vernacular dialect of ancient India. The vari-
ous forms of Prakrit are closely allied to literary Sanskrit.

Pyxis. — A Greek jewel box.

Repousse. — A style of ornamentation in metal, raised in relief
by hammering from behind.

RiDGE-EOOF. — A raised or peaked roof.

Rococo. — A debased variety of ornament, in which tho decora
tive devices lack good taste and meaning.

Sat!. — {Skr.). A widow who immolates herself on tho funeral

pyre of her husband.
Sateap. — (Kshatrapa) Viceroy or Governor of a province. The

title was originally a Persian one.
Scotia. — A concave moulding used principally in the bases

of columns and walls.
Soffit. — The underside of any architectural member.
Steatite. — A stone commonly known as soap-stone.
Stupa.— See p. 35, footnote 1.

124 GLOSSARY

ToRANA. — A gateway of Indian design. See p. 29, footnote 1.

Torus. — A convex moulding used principally in the bases of
columns.

Tkiratna. — {Skr.) ' Three jewels.' A trident-like device used
to symbolise the trinity of Buddhism. See p. 41, footnote 1.

Ukifacial. — A term used of archaic statuary in the round
which is conceived by the sculptor in one aspect only,
in contradistinction to the plurifacial statuary of developed
art, which is conceived simultaneously in all its aspects,
i.e., in its three dimensions.

USHNi.'^HA. — See p. 44, footnote 1.

Vajrapani. — (Skr.) 'Bearer of the thunderbolt.' An attendant
on the Buddha, whose identity is uncertain.

Vishnu Ptjr.Ina. — One of the 18 Puranas, which deal with
creation, with the genealogies of gods and patriarchs and
with the dynasties of kings. The dynastic history
given in the Vi>ihnu Purana extends to the rise of the
Imperial Guptas in the 4th century A.D.

Volute. — The scroll or spiral in Ionic and Corinthian capitals.

V

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